by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
“…there is the golden rule that God has inscribed into human nature created in Christ: The rule that only love gives meaning and happiness to life.” These words by Pope Francis (September 3, 2017), reminds us that our vocation is love. Love for God and for our neighbour.
CCSJ is making a special request to show your love by supporting an initiative that our Commission is organising in collaboration with the NGO, Inventions and Creativity Through the Arts (ICTA), and some of the artists who work with this NGO. ICTA’s President, Deborah Hutchinson, is a teacher at a Catholic secondary school in south.
We will be holding a Wine and Cheese fundraiser and Art Auction, entitled ‘Caribbean Masquerade’, on San Fernando Hill, on Thursday, November 30 from 7–11 p.m. Tickets cost TT$250. Proceeds will go to assist flood victims. Please call 746-8551 or 299-8945 for tickets. This is truly a worthy cause. Solidarity is a key social justice principle.
Archbishop Harris’ Pastoral Letter, Return to Hospitality reminds us of the importance of reaching out in love to those in need. He asks us to reflect on our lives: “Do I acknowledge that all I have and my whole life are gifts from God, to be accepted with gratitude and used for the good of my community? If God were to ask me now for an account of my life, would I be comfortable to give it? What would I want to change?”
Natural disasters like floods cause not only material devastation, but impacts on all aspects of victims’ lives. Let’s help them to rebuild their lives. Our fundraiser is linked to CCSJ’s & the Youth Commission’s recent Spoken Word Competition.
We share the poem by the 2nd prize winner, Leeum Quan Kep.
A Catholic perspective on the development of people
Left right left right left right left right left right?
The armies march on, except instead military uniforms we have feminist parades and trade union rallies
The war seems to never have ended…..Left right left right left right left
The left side says freedom, the right side say control, the left side says liberty, the right side say security- the left and right ideologies play a tug of war with the direction of development.
As we develop-mentalities, men use their talents to cross their t’s and dot their i’s, to rewriting society with each functional model or revolutionary theory, but somehow the armies won’t stop marching: they just evolve from noble soldiers to noble terrorists, to 14 year olds who tear their wrists.
It’s an ideological war within the minds of our youth. The cause and symptoms are plain as day because our youth’s media is obscure as night. This is a fight for our minds and souls.
So no matter the brightest day or blackest nights, no evil should escape a Catholic’s sight……or I wish that was the creed… I wish Trini parents were the superheroes I want them to be, to save the youth from all the salty melodies and Machel Mondays because our local culture is as much an ideology as any, so tell me what kind of development are we promoting?
Where instead of biblical teaching we resorting to vybz cah tell, at least I can tell what u put in is what u get out, we allowing an ideology of sin to rule. From carnival to corruption to crime. And it go be real easy to say Jesus and his teaching is the right ideology, that there was no greater love than a man who lay down his life for his friend.
But society too preoccupied arguing capitalism vs communism without realising that this is spiritual warfare. We must pick up our rifles and shoot down the pornography accepted on social media.
Train our behaviours to be of a divine nature and once spiritually fit march against the display on of sin within our nation; my Christian war cry has been silenced for too long.
It’s time for a new ideology to shape the development of society. One where we love until it hurts and then continue loving; one where we put others needs first not occasionally but to such intensity that it becomes our lifestyle.
A life worthwhile, a life in the army of the lord, so we going left right left right praise… we going left right left right praise, we are not ashamed, we are not afraid… we are the army of the lord.
