by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
On Sunday evening I returned to T&T after conducting a workshop in St Maarten (Dutch side) on Friday and Saturday. After leaving St Maarten I got a connecting flight from Antigua to T&T via St Lucia. We boarded in Antigua and had to wait on board for a tyre to be changed. Then in St Lucia we waited on board again as the plane had to be re-fuelled.
When we finally arrived in T&T a few of us discovered that our suitcases were “missing”. After completing the necessary forms, I left the airport wondering if this was a regular occurrence with LIAT. I do hope I will be reunited with my suitcase as all my important documents etc are in it.
I won’t let this spoil my wonderful memories of my stay in St Maarten. Fr Bob Johnston, SVD, had invited me to conduct the workshop as part of the Diocese of Willemstad’s Evangelisation course.
Words can’t express the wonderful experience I had with Fr Bob, Fr Yonanes from Indonesia, Fr Miguel from Mexico, Bernadine and Gerard Van Veen, and the many participants who joined us for the workshop from St Maarten (both Dutch and French side), St Eustatius and even some Trinis who now live in St Maarten. It was Carnival season there and at Mass on Saturday evening I was introduced to the daughter of one of the Trinis. She had just won the junior calypso competition.
We were thrilled when, during the final session of the workshop, Bishop Luis A Secco, SDB, Bishop of Willemstad, paid us a visit and gave us his blessing just before he left for the AEC meeting in Guadeloupe.
When I was first invited, I thought I would only have to present a few sessions. In fact, I had to run all six sessions. Inter alia, we focused on:
*An introduction to the key principles underpinning Catholic Social Teaching.
*The family – “the basic cell of society” (Blessed John Paul II).
*Distinguishing between Works of Mercy and Works of Social Action.
*Practical strategies for promoting social justice – using the SEE –JUDGE–ACT Methodology.
*The global economic crisis and Business Ethics – A review of Cardinal Peter Turkson’s Guidelines: Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection (Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace).
*The Year of Faith: Integrating Prayer and Justice to develop a spirituality of Justice: “…the deepening of the spiritual life must go hand in hand with practical concern for our neighbour, and thus with social action.” (The late Cardinal George Basil Hume (UK).
I shall upload my presentations on CCSJ’s website and you can read them at your convenience.
Fr Bob and his team are desperately seeking an organist– someone who will be prepared to teach music at a Catholic secondary school there and also take on the role of Church organist. Interested persons should ring me on 299-8945 for further information.
One exercise in which I engaged participants was to encourage each one to write a sentence that defined him/her as a Catholic. Please think about this also. What makes you a Catholic? What happens after Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation? Do we live “divided” lives or do we integrate our faith in our daily lives?
During the Year of Faith, it is important that you familiarise yourself with the Social Teaching/Doctrine of the Church to learn why we must do as Pope Francis states and reach out to the poor and vulnerable. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church states that “the formative value of the Church’s social doctrine should receive more attention in catechesis” (529).
“The purpose of this exposure to the richness of the Church’s social doctrine is to motivate action that will lead to the ‘humanisation of temporal realities’ (530). For this reason too exposure to social doctrine should feature prominently in institutes of Catholic education (532) and in the formation of candidates for the priesthood (533).”
Thankfully, the Compendium is available free of charge on the internet. Today’s Gospel (John10:27-30) should spur us on to act justly. Jesus said: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”
To follow Jesus; to be true witnesses to our faith, we must develop not only a close encounter with Christ, but also a horizontal relationship with our neighbour: “As long as you did this to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).
As we mark the 50th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, let us pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood and to the consecrated life.
