by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
On July 16, members of staff at Archbishop’s House gathered together to celebrate the 45th anniversary of ordination of Archbishop Joseph Harris (July 14) and the 22ndanniversary of ordination of Auxiliary Bishop-elect Msgr Robert Llanos (June 23). We also congratulated Msgr Llanos on his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop in our Archdiocese. I share with you below an extract from my address to them at the gathering:
“Your Grace and Msgr Llanos, we thank God for your vocation to the priesthood – both of you. We know that a vocation to the priesthood is a gift from God – not only to you as individuals. It is a gift to the Church, to our Catholic community in T&T, to the wider community, and to the world. If the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives as Catholics, then it is to you priests that we look to keep us nourished for the journey. We are all part of the Eucharistic Body – the Body of Christ in the world – and we have the joyful task of working with you to build the common good.
“We thank God that when you were called you discerned that the calling was authentic and you responded positively. We hope that your saying ‘Yes’ will inspire more young men and adult men to listen to God’s call to them also. As the saying goes: ‘Without priests there will be no Eucharist and without the Eucharist there will be no Church’. We thank both of you for your fidelity, for your loyalty to our Church, and for all that you do for our country. Catholics have something to say in the marketplace and you lead the way in making the voice of the Church heard in the wider society.
“St Paul reminds us that ‘there can be no authentic ministry without a profound life of prayer’. Our country needs prayerful, holy people like you. You both stand as beacons to lead us through the darkness in a land that has been ‘fogged up’ with corruption, individualism, selfishness, and moral relativism. The Holy Father’s recent encyclical, The Light of Faith, reflects exactly what you are both seeking to do in our Archdiocese – to build a community of love. Pope Francis said in the encyclical: It is ‘impossible to believe on our own’, because faith is not ‘an individual decision’, but rather opens ‘I’ to ‘we’ and always occurs ‘within the community of the Church’.
“None of us as Catholics operate on our own. We stand side by side with both of you as you seek to build the civilisation of love in our Archdiocese. Once again, as we celebrate your anniversaries of ordination to the priesthood, we remember to thank God for His gift of priests. God bless you both in your ministry.”
The vocation of each baptised person is to be holy. Our priests play a part in deepening our faith and helping us to live holy, virtuous lives; they continue to serve selflessly, demonstrating what the term “serve the people” really means.
My father is Hindu. His good friend, who is Catholic, had a stroke and is now bedridden. They studied law together at Lincoln’s Inn, England, years ago. Pa was determined to get a Catholic priest to go and visit his friend and to take Communion to him. I thank Fr Christo and Sr Monique who responded to my call for assistance in this regard. I recall in London how my mother “fussed” to ensure that the house was tidy when she heard that the late Cardinal Hume was coming to visit me after I had undergone surgery. And in my childhood, every Saturday Ma would bake bread and take it to Canon Max Murphy in Chaguanas while the bread rolls were still piping hot. She was eternally grateful to him for baptising me when I was a few days old and everyone thought I was going to die. He “stood” as my God-father and the wife of the organist was my God-mother.
I know each of you would have your own “stories” about how priests have touched your lives. In his article: What does it take to be a good priest?, Fr Jim Kent, O.F.M. Conv. says: “To be a good priest starts first and foremost with that relationship with God…Being a priest is an awesome honour and responsibility. To be of service to others is to be a channel of God’s grace, and that is the heart of this special vocation.”
Let us pray for His Grace, Auxiliary Bishop-elect Msgr Llanos, and for all members of the clergy and religious in our Archdiocese and in our Church.
