by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Today’s Gospel reading (Mark 6:1-6) gives us much food for thought. Jesus returned to his own home town in Nazareth and was “amazed at the lack of faith” among the people. They would not accept him. Was it because they remembered him as being a carpenter and the son of a carpenter? Jesus’ words ring true for many: “A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house.”
Would Jesus find faith in T&T? Jesus knocks on the doors of our hearts daily. Do we open the door and welcome Him because we, His disciples, embrace His teachings and act on them to build His Kingdom here on earth? Even if you find yourself preaching the Good News in a hostile environment, just do it – for Jesus’ sake. Evangelisation involves setting a good example by the way in which we live our lives, so that others may wish to emulate us.
Let us show by our actions that we are people of faith who follow the man from Nazareth in Galilee. But our actions must be underpinned by the teachings of our faith and by prayer.
Each year CCSJ members set aside time for a one-day retreat – spending time together in prayer and contemplation. It’s a time for renewal. The theme for our retreat on July 3 is: ‘Freely you have received, freely [you must] give.’ See Matthew 10:8 – You have received without charge, give without charge. Jesus uttered these words to his disciples when he sent them on Mission.
By the time you read this article, we would have held our retreat. Thanks to Vanessa, the ambiance provided by her for the Team will help us to draw closer to nature; to reflect more fully on our Vision and Mission; and to check whether we still share the Core Values that we had identified when the Commission was established in 2003. These Core Values apply to all the Faithful:
- We recognise our duties and obligations to the wider community
- “To bring Good News to the poor, liberty to captives, new sight to the blind, and to free the downtrodden”. (Luke 4:18)
- Always respecting the dignity of the human person
- We value the process of Reflection, Research and Action.
The theme for our retreat – taken from Pope Francis’ morning homily on June 11, is most appropriate in these times in which individualism, relativism, greed and selfishness threaten to overwhelm us. Inter alia, the Holy Father said that “Christians are called to life of service free from the deceit of wealth… It is sad to find Christians who forget Jesus’ words: ‘Freely you have received, freely give.’
“It is sad to find Christian communities, be they parishes, religious congregations, dioceses, that forget about gratuitousness, because behind and beneath this is the deceit of presuming that salvation derives from riches, from human power.” He said that the key to sincere Christian living lies in gratuitous service to others. “Service to Jesus through the sick, the incarcerated, the naked.” (http://popefrancisnewsapp.com/ ).
CCSJ members will explore what this theme really means for us as we work to promote the social teaching of our Church. In this ‘gimme, gimme world’, let us remember that all that we have is gift from God. We can do nothing without God’s grace and mercy. We have not received these gifts just to store them up and ignore the plight of those in need. Let us resist the temptation to hoard the gifts that the Lord has so generously given to us. People will know that we are Christians by our love. Don’t ever stop loving and giving generously – without expectation of reward.
I remember the story of the old woman whose son went to seek his fortune and left her alone at home to till the fields. Each day when she made breakfast an old man, dressed in rags, would come to her window and ask her for a piece of bread. Each day she would give him a sandwich. He would then leave saying: “The good that you do will return to you.”
After about two years, she got fed up with having to make a sandwich for the old man every day. She decided to poison the sandwich to teach him a lesson. Having made the poisoned sandwich, she waited for the old man to come along. As she waited, she started to feel guilty. Full of remorse, she threw it away and made him another sandwich. He took it and left uttering his usual words.
Later that day, she heard a knock at her door. It was her son. Having failed to attain the wealth he sought, he had decided to return home to help his mother in the fields and to value the gifts that God had given to him. He told his mother that he was so hungry that he had fainted on the road on the way home and an old man in ragged clothes had given him a sandwich which revived him. When he described the man, his mother burst into tears of joy, thanking God that she had not given the old man the poisoned sandwich as her son would have eaten it and died.
As our Catechism tells us: “Deep within his conscience, man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment” (CCC 1776).
