Holy Mass in Urdu on Sunday, 2nd December 2012

Christ Church, Carr Rd, Nelson BB9 7EN

Sunday 2nd  December 2012

Time: 3 pm

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The Mass is followed by the sharing of a meal together. Everyone is welcome.
Holy Mass in Urdu every first Sunday of the month at 3pm

Advent the season of the seed

Here is a beautiful meditation from the Book “The Reed of God” by Caryll Houselander.

ADVENT is the season of the seed: Christ loved this symbolof the seed. 

  The seed, He said, is the Word of God sown in the human heart. 

  "The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed."

  "So is the Kingdom of God as if a man should cast seedinto the earth."   Even his own life-blood: "Unless the grain of wheatfalling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone."

  The Advent, the seed of the world's life, was hidden in OurLady. 

Like the wheat seed in the earth, the seed of the Bread of Life was inher.

   Like the golden harvest in the darkness of the earth, theGlory of God was shrined in her darkness. 

     Advent is the season of the secret,the secret of the growth of Christ, of Divine Love growing in silence. 

    It isthe season of humility, silence, and growth. 

    For nine months Christ grew in HisMother's body. By His own will she formed Him from herself, from the simplicityof her daily life. 

  She had nothing to give Him but herself. 

  He asked fornothing else. 

  She gave Him herself.

  Working, eating, sleeping, she was forming His body fromhers. His flesh and blood. From her humanity she gave Him His humanity.

   Walkingin the streets of Nazareth to do her shopping, to visit her friends, she setHis feet on the path of Jerusalem.

   Washing, weaving, kneading, sweeping, herhands prepared His hands for the nails.

   Every beat of her heart gave Him Hisheart to love with, His heart to be broken by love

.   All her experience of theworld about her was gathered to Christ growing in her.

   Looking upon theflowers, she gave Him human sight. Talking with her neighbours, she gave Him ahuman voice. The voice we still hear in the silence of souls saying : "Considerthe lilies of the field." 

  Sleeping in her still room, she gave Him thesleep of the child in the cradle, the sleep of the young man rocked in thestorm-tossed boat. 

  Breaking and eating the bread, drinking the wine of thecountry, she gave Him His flesh and blood; she prepared the Host for the Mass. 

  This time of Advent is absolutely essential to our contemplation too. 

  If wehave truly given our humanity to be changed into Christ, it is essential to usthat we do not disturb this time of growth. 

  It is a time of darkness, of faith.We shall not see Christ's radiance in our lives yet; it is still hidden in ourdarkness; nevertheless, we must believe that He is growing in our lives; wemust believe it so firmly that we cannot help relating everything, literallyeverything, to this almost incredible reality. 

  This attitude it is which makesevery moment of every day and night a prayer. 

  In itself it is a purification,but without the tense resolution and anxiety of self-conscious aim. 

  How couldit be possible that anyone who was conscious that Christ desired to see theworld with his eyes would look willingly on anything evil ? Or knowing that Hewished to work with his hands, do any work that was shoddy, any work that wasnot as near perfection as human nature can achieve? 

  Who, knowing that his earsmust listen for Christ, could listen to blasphemy or to the dreary dirtiness ofso much of our conversation, or could fail to listen to the voice of a worldlike ours with compassion? 

  Above all, who, knowing that Christ asked for hisheart to love with, for his heart to bear the burden of the love of God, couldfail to discover that in every pulsation of his own life there is prayer?

Advent the season of the seed 

(Inspired from the Book“The Reed of God” by Caryll Houselander)

(Advent the season of the seed:

Hidden in the Blessed Mother

The seed of the world's life,

Like the wheat seed in the earth,

In her was the seed of the Bread of Life)

Mary walked the streets of Nazareth

Grew In her, His feet so tiny,

One day will walk to the Calvary,

To be nailed to the cross

With her hands, she swept, baked, and cooked

Grew in her, His hands so tiny,

One day will carry the wood to Calvary,

To be nailed to the cross

Every beat of her heart

gave Him His heart to love with

Love Eternal, Love Divine,

Heart of her Son pierced on the cross

for sins of mine

She gave Him her life,

Held His hands as He learned to walk

He moved His feet, step by step

Ever closer to the cross

Her Creator

becomes her Son,

Her King, her Saviour,

Also, yours and mine

She taught Him how to talk

Of the seven last words He spoke

Now crowned with thorns

He says to her from the cross

Woman:

'Behold thy son'

And then to the apostle John

and also to us

'Behold thy mother'

Blessed Mother

You nursed Him

Who nourishes us with the Bread of Life

Pray, that we may

Give Him our lives like you

To love, like He loved

In all we do

This Advent

the seed may grow in us too

What Jesus Really Said About The End Of The World

From the Mayans to Martin Luther to modern doomsday preachers, there's a long list of people who predicted the end of the age—and got it wrong.

Does Jesus belong on that list?

After all, in the Gospel of Matthew he seems to indicate the end will come within a "generation," yet many generations have now passed and the world is still around.

Was he mistaken, then, and was the early Church fooled by his mistake—into expecting the Second Coming in the first century?

In What Jesus Really Said About the End of the World, author David Currie author of Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic examines Christ's end-times prophecies in an attempt to get to the bottom of this profoundly important question.

Using the tools of biblical scholarship, the wisdom of the Church Fathers, plus Old Testament history and typology, he presents a fascinating and highly readable interpretation of Jesus' words—echoed by St. Paul and other early Christians—that harmonizes with Catholic tradition and resoundingly answers the charge that Christ predicted an end that never came.

In so doing he rebuts both skeptics (who crow about Jesus' "mistake") and many Evangelical Christians (who resort to extrabiblical theories like the "Rapture") while giving comfort to other Christians, who have been confused or embarrassed by this seeming blow to Christ's credibility.

Currie also unlocks for you the most important message behind Jesus' prophecies and warnings, which is not to inspire fearful calculations about the day and hour but to remind us that our own end will surely come, so we must be always ready.

Let us not look for signs to be troubled by, the Lord says to us, but instead trust in his mercy and power.

Order your copy here or here

25th November 2012, Solemnity of Christ the King B

Sál ke daurán chauntíswán Itwár (B)

Hamáre Khudáwand Yisú‘ Masíh kul káinát ke Bádsháh kí ‘Id

Dákhilah (Entrance Antiphon):

(Mukáshafa) Revelation  5:12; 1:6

Barra jo zabah kiyá gayá hai wuh is láiq hai ki

qudrat, daulat, hikmat, aur ‘izzat níz tamjíd aur hamd páe.

Abadu’l ábád tak jalál aur bádsháhí usí kí hai

Readings

Pahlí Tiláwat:

(Dániál nabí kí kitáb) Daniel 7:13-14

Us kí hukúmat ká lá-zawál hukúmat hogí

Pák kalám ke paṛhe aur sune jáne par Khudá kí barkat ho.

Jamá‘at: Khudá ká shukr ho.

Zabúr: Psalm 92:1-2, 5 Jamá‘ati jawáb áyat:1

Khudáwand Bádsháh hai, wuh hashmat se mulabbas hai.

Dusrí Tiláwat:

(Muqaddas Yúhanná Rasúl ká Mukáshafa) Apocalypse 1:5-8

Sháhán-i ‘álam ká sardár, us ne hamen Khudá aur báp ke liye bádsháhí aur káhin baná diyá

                                             

Pák kalám ke paṛhe aur sune jáne par Khudá kí barkat ho.

Jamá‘at: Khudá ká shukr ho.

(Gospel Acclamation)

Hallelujah: Mk11:10

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Mubárak hai wuh jo Khudáwand ke nám se átá hai

Mubárak hai hamáre báp Dáúd kí bádsháhí jo átí hai

Hallelujah

Injíl I Muqaddas:

(Muqaddas Yúhanná Rasúl ke mutábiq) John 18:33-37

Tú khúd kahtá hai ki main bádsháh hún

Us waqt Pílátus qil‘e men dákhil húá, aur Yisú‘ ko bulá kar us se kahá: Kyá tú Yahúdíon ká bádsháh hai? Yisú‘ ne jawáb diyá ki tú yih bát áp hí kahtá hai, yá ki auron ne mere haqq men tujh se kahí? Pílátus ne jawáb diyá, Kyá main Yahúdí hún? Terí hi, qaum aur sardár káhinon ne tujh ko mere hawále kiyá hai: tú ne kyá kiyá hai? Yisú‘ ne jawáb diyá ki merí bádsháhí is dunyá kí nahín. Agar merí bádsháhí is dunyá kí hotí to mere khádim laṛáí karte, táki main Yahúdíon ke hawále na kiyá játá, magar merí bádsháhí yahán kí nahín. Tab Pílátus ne us se kahá: kyá tú bádsháh hai? Yisú‘ ne jawáb diyá tú khud kahtá hai, ki main bádsháh hún. Main is liye paidá húá, aur is wáste dunyá men áyá hún, ki haqq kí gawáhí dún. Jo koí haqq ká hai, wuh merí áwáz suntá hai.

Injíl I Muqaddas ke wasíle se hamárí khatáen mu‘áf kí jáen.

Jamá‘at: Ai Masíh, terí sitáish ho.

Pák Sharákat kí áyat (Communion Antiphon):

(Zabúr) Psalm 28: 10-11

Khudáwand Bádsháh hokar abad tak takhtnishíní karegá

Khudáwand apní ummat ko salámatí kí barakat ‘atá farmáegá.

...

Podcasts:

For Sermon by Fr. Robert Barron click here

For reflection by Dr. Scott Hahn click here

For commentary by Dr. John Bergsma on Sunday readings check out the Sacred Page click here

Some great resources for Sunday Mass, Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Rite at The Divine Lamp click here

Pakistan: Walking in the footsteps of the father - An interview Fr. Emmanuel Asi

Mark Riedemann for Where God Weeps in cooperation with Aid to the Church in Need interviews Fr. Emmanuel Asi, Executive Secretary of the Catholic Bible Commission in Lahore, Pakistan. Fr. Asi is a biblical scholar who, for over 20 years, has been teaching theology to ordinary people - and this in a country were Christians make up no more than 2% of the population.

Q: Father Asi, the Christians in Pakistan number about 2% of the population; did you come from a traditional Catholic family?

Father Asi: It is a blessing that I come from; not only a Christian family, but a very, very traditional Christian family. My father, when he was a young boy about the age of 12, was converted to Christianity by a Capuchin missionary from Belgium. When he was converted at the age of 12, he was un-alphabetized (unschooled). He had to learn how to read and write and he memorized all of Scripture; he could tell where each passage was written. Later he became a spiritual leader of the community - 18 families in a big village where the majority are Muslims. My father was a tailor by profession. He would sit on the ground in our simple village and do his tailoring and people would come - even Muslims would come - and we would sit next to him and read the Word of God. He would interpret and do the exegesis and preaching and at the same do his stitching work. The whole village and the villages around considered him and named him a holy person - in our language a Sadhu - and they would come to him for blessings.  When animals or children were sick they would come to him for blessings. Muslims too would come to him for blessings. And for important decisions they would come to him and at times he acted as a reconciler even for neighbouring villages.  So, that is the family background where I come from.

Q: So your deep love for the Scripture comes from him?

Father Asi: Yes I inherited this from my parents; my father. At a very early age and at night before we go to bed; we did not have electricity in our village, he would tell as Biblical stories, narratives and episodes. So we knew all; Biblical verses, stories, and episodes even at a very, very young age. Six days he would do his work and on Sunday he would preach the Word of God. On Sundays he would take us: my mother, my brothers and sisters to neighbouring villages. Wherever he would go he would act out biblical dramas, sing songs and preach. Morning and evening prayers were recited not only in our family but my father would gather the whole Christian community and we would pray.

Q: What was the reaction of the Muslims?

Father Asi: The Muslims also respect the Word of God and talk openly about religion. The only confrontations with the Muslim occurs when one speaks against their religion or on a few doctrinal dogmas; truths like the Trinity and Jesus as the son of God.

Q: Approximately, I believe, 40% of the population can read in Pakistan. So illiteracy is an enormous problem, how do you overcome this challenge in your teaching?

Father Asi: When it comes to the Word of God or speaking about one’s faith, this has never been a problem.  Our medium of instruction is in two languages; though our mother tongue is Punjabi, we use the national languages English and Urdu, so being literate or illiterate has never been a problem. People are attentive, attracted and inspired and they never get tired. The preacher or organizer may get tired because of the shortage of time bur people never get tired listening to the Word of God.

Q: Theology can often be very profound. How do you bring down, if you will or simplify theology for the ordinary man?

Father Asi: Well, in contextual theology, the point of departure is different.  In traditional theology, which is the dominant theology in the Church, the starting points are: God, Philosophy, Logic, or Theology or some Dogma or Truth. In contextual theology, the starting point is life’s realities. So when you speak about life realities and God in it, the whole of theology becomes different. It is not we who are doing contextual theology; God was the first to do contextual theology. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God desired that the human person be Imago Dei the image of God and participate in Godhead. In Exodus chapter 3 in the passage just before that of the burning bush, God himself decided to come down on earth because He saw, poverty, exploitation, oppression of people, torture, slavery, and wanted to deliver, redeem and liberate.  So it is God who is doing contextual theology; a God who does not want to stay outside history, above history but God, in context, in history and in daily life.

Q: So you start from the daily life of that particular individual, that mother, that husband…

Father Asi: Yes…and in fact, in fact, theology becomes more charming, more attractive and not something abstract and doctrine but has something to do with your life, something to do in reality, so it is God in context and the human person in context.

Q: What is the greatest satisfaction in your work?

Father Asi: Yes, the first level of satisfaction is my own personal and inner understanding that, for me, God is different: God is in me and in my context; God is interested in me and God who, in the words of St. John, is tangible, a God with whom you can dialogue. God is not an abstract God living up in heaven, outside my history, beyond my life and maybe I can reach him only when I pray or when I do good or virtuous works. God is real. God is experiential. God is tangible. This has given me hope and joy - my perspective that God loves me. And I share this love and transmit this love to others. The second level of satisfaction is when people listen and respond: ‘We understand’. And they do not mean on an academic level but from the heart. Simple people start talking, start reflecting and start verbalizing their own reflections about God. This has been one of my great satisfactions.

Q: You have some new projects that you are developing. One is the 100,000 Friends of the Bible. Can you tell us what this is?

Father Asi: Pope Benedict XVI in his document “Verbum Domini” emphasized the centrality of the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church and in every activity of the Church. There are seven points in the program. First, you have to own a Bible. Second is to read it daily. Third is to read it continuously, starting from where you left off. It is not opening the Bible randomly and to start reading but start to from the beginning and read regularly onwards, so in 2 or 3 years’ time if you read about 10 minutes a day you will have read the Bible. You are not studying the Bible, just reading the Bible. The fourth point is, once in a while, to share what you find inspiring and interesting with family and friends. The fifth point is to give a Bible as a gift within 2 or 3 years’ time. And the second to last point is perhaps in a years’ time to tell 5 or 7 friends to do the same and to join this 100,000 Friends of the Bible. And finally to praise and thank God that you’ve become or have joined and that you are among the 100,000 Friends of the Bible. You actually do not have to do something extra for this. It is just to fall in love with the Bible; as you becoming a friend with someone and you want to meet, talk and to be with that individual; it is just falling in love with the Word of God and doing the most minimum you can but to do it regularly and continuously in a joyful way. It will have a lot of many good and positive consequences. This year we are trying to print 70,000 Bibles in Urdu. So we are hoping that all these will be sold soon. It will be a miracle of the Word of God.

Q: I cannot help but think that you are walking in the footsteps of your father?
Father Asi: Thank you and I thank you for giving me this chance, as I said in the beginning, to talk about the Church in Pakistan and about the Word of God in Pakistan. I am very grateful.

* * *

This interview was conducted by Mark Riedemann for “Where God Weeps," a weekly TV & radio show produced by Catholic Radio & Television Network in conjunction with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

Sources here and here

First publication of the Catechism in Pakistan's language

Starting at 17:57

After eight years of hard work, the Catechism in Pakistan's language is now available. In this video, Father Robert McCulloch talks about the first publication of the Catholic Catechism in Urdu.  He also gives an example of the word coined for Transubstantiation.

"Keys, Pits, and Binding: Old Testament Imagery in Revelation" Dr. Micha...

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Phir main ne ek firishte ko ásmán se utarte dekhá jis ke háth men gahráo kí kunjí, aur ek baṛí zanjír  thí.

Check out  Coming Soon: Unlocking the Book of Revelation and Applying Its Lessons Today here