by Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice
Today’s Gospel reading taken from Luke 10 contains some lines which I often use in my attempt to encourage people to “do” justice. Luke 10:2 states: “”The harvest is abundant but the labourers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for his harvest.”
Through baptism we become Jesus’ disciples. Just as He sends the 72 in today’s Gospel to do missionary work, we are also called to be missionaries. While we pray for others to join us in the harvest, let’s ask ourselves: “What kind of labourers are we?”
There is an urgency to live our lives according to God’s plan for us so that others will wish to emulate us. Pray that the Holy Spirit will empower us to be true witnesses to our faith.
I recently returned from Thailand which has a population of about 65 million people, 95 percent of whom are Buddhists. Only 0.44% are Catholic. Portuguese Catholic missionaries went to Thailand about 400 years ago.
By some divine plan, one of our tour guides, Waan, was Catholic. You cannot imagine her joy to meet my relatives and me. To prove to us that she is Catholic, she showed us her rosary and a photograph of herself standing near Pope John Paul II who visited Thailand in 1984. We prayed together at the beautiful Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok.
Waan is also a part-time teacher. In Thailand, most of the 500,000 or so students in Catholic schools are Buddhists. At an education seminar held there last year, “discussions centred on how educators can face society’s growing moral relativism”(Weena Kowitwanij).
Our educators in T&T face the same problem. The challenge for us as labourers in the Lord’s harvest is to play our part in regenerating the moral and spiritual values of our society. Don’t be afraid to speak out when necessary – even though the response may be negative.
Last Friday I was driving to Port of Spain and noticed a large sign at the back of a maxi taxi which read: “Lost one wife and a dog. Reward offered for the dog.” There were school children in the maxi. I managed to get in the lane alongside the maxi and stopped next to the driver’s window at the traffic lights, which were on red. My attempts seemed futile as I tried to get the young driver to accept that such a sign will not help us to build a society in which we respect each other.
What saddened me was a comment from a female student sitting next to him. “Tantie,” she said, “is only ah joke. Yuh cyah take ah joke?” We labourers in the harvest must meet the challenge of promoting mutual respect and positive relationships between men and women, boys and girls. Let’s build the self-esteem of our people and socialise our youths to behave responsibly and to be able to discern right from wrong.
Don’t get despondent when your efforts to promote Gospel values are initially rejected. As Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel: “I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” Jesus never said that following Him would be easy. Remember that we are people of the Beatitudes; we are an Easter people and God’s grace will be sufficient for us as we seek to do His will.
We have a new Government in office. Too often people wait to throw stones at those in positions of authority rather than rolling up their sleeves and participating in the governance of our country. Local Government elections are imminent. Read the US Bishops’ statement on Faithful Citizenship (www.usccb.org/faithfulcitizenship/bishopStatement.html).
This statement “calls Catholics to see civic and political responsibilities through the eyes of faith and to bring our moral convictions to public life…We are all called to provide a moral leaven for our democracy, to be the salt of the earth… As Catholics we need to share our values, raise our voices, and use our votes to shape a society that protects human life, promotes family life, pursues social justice, and practices solidarity.”
Happy July 4 to our American brothers and sisters. In the words of US Bishop John B McCormack: “May we always pursue our freedom without trampling on the freedom and rights of others!”
Send feedback to: ccsjfeedback@gmail.com. To purchase: The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Take a Bite social justice programme on DVD, and the Responses to 101 Questions on Catholic Social Teaching, contact CCSJ at 622-2691 or 290-1635.
