by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
CCSJ invites you to attend a free International Conference on Tuesday, October 1 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Law Faculty Auditorium, UWI, St Augustine, on the theme: The Death Penalty in the context of Public Security: Neither Right, nor Effective. The Conference is a precursor to worldwide observances to mark the 11th World Day Against the Death Penalty (October 10), dedicated this year to the Greater Caribbean region.
The World Day falls within Respect For Life Week (RFLW). Each person is asked to pray the Rosary on October 10 for peace in T&T and the world, for an end to crime and violence, for the victims of crime, for the adoption of anti-crime strategies that are more in keeping with the sanctity of all life and the dignity of the human person, and for the abolition of the death penalty.
Building a culture of life also involves promoting environmental/ecological justice. Blessed John Paul II said (July 24, 2007): “Our earth speaks to us, and we must listen if we want to survive.” Remember our recent floods? What are you and your parish/vicariate doing to observe RFLW?
As we approach RFLW, we ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to respect all life – from conception to natural death. This is the fourth year that the Archdiocese will be responding to the plea made during the 2009 sitting of Synod that the Archdiocese should dedicate a week each year to the theme, “Respect for Life.” This year, the sub-theme for the week is Regenerating the Moral and Spiritual Values of our Society. Let us prepare for the implementation of our 3rd Pastoral Priority.
The Calendar of Events for RFLW is available in this week’s Catholic News. Next week, there will be a Prayer Supplement, produced by Sr Juliet Rajah, for use during the week. RFLW commences with an all-night vigil on Friday at St Ann’s RC Church, ending with the celebration of the Eucharist. On Saturday, we hope you will join us at the Sir Ellis Clarke Memorial Conference at Living Water Community, Frederick St. (3 p.m. – 6 p.m.). Archbishop Joseph Harris, Dr Terrence Farrell, Director of CREDI, and I will be addressing the theme.
And we hope that our youth will enter the CCSJ’s Essay Competition on the theme: What are the core Christian values that guide you on your life’s journey? (see our website). This involves more than submitting a list of core values. Who has helped to inculcate these values in you – parents, family, school, Church? Think carefully about how these values inform the choices you make on a daily basis; how they help to make you the person that you are. What does it really mean to be a follower of Christ?
The faithful should remember that children learn what they live, so we adults must model the values we wish them to embrace. The Catholic Telegraph, Ohio, reports on Pope Francis’ message to people joining in the Brazilian Catholic Church’s celebration of Family Week in August. He said: “‘Parents are called to pass on to their children the awareness that life must always be defended.” He said modern cultures tend to treat even human lives as disposable, pointing at the way people, societies and even governments tend to treat both the young and the old. He added that parents have a responsibility to fight that disposable culture by teaching their children that human life, “from the womb”, is a gift from God. New life ensures the future of humanity, he said, while older people — especially grandparents — “are the living memory of a people and transmit the wisdom of life”.
As a Eucharistic people, we have a duty to address the many threats to human life/human dignity in our society and in our world today. Let us heed President Anthony Carmona’s call to action that we must ALL work to fix T&T since we are one.
In the midst of threats to life, we must grasp opportunities “to respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life” (Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, no. 5). Our AEC Bishops remind us in their 2008 Pastoral Letter, The Gift of Life, that: “The Church is to announce with great vigour, by word and deed, that human life is sacred and inviolable. This proclamation demands the promotion and the renewal of a culture of life. All Catholics, including bishops, priests, religious, laity, theologians, catechists, parents and teachers have a role to play in promoting a culture of life.”
