Catholic Commission for Social Justice
Gospel: John 1, 29 – 34
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.”
We have just said farewell to someone who will go down in the annals of history as a remarkable human being – Sir Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke. I hope the momentum will be maintained as we think about ways of honouring him.
Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr Day. King, the great American Civil Rights leader, is another “light to the nations”.
Gospel: Matthew 3, 13 – 17
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.
After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Today I continue to share some extracts from Pope Benedict XVI’s Peace Message for 2011: “Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace”.
At the press conference when the Peace Message was released, Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said: “Religious freedom does not imply that all religions are equal. Nor is it a reason for religious relativism or indifferentism. Religious freedom is compatible with defence of one’s religious identity against relativism, syncretism and fundamentalism, which are all abused forms of religious freedom.”
by Leela Ramdeen
On Sir Ellis’ 92 birthday in 2009, I joined others at his home to mark the occasion. The following are some of the words I wrote in his birthday card: “We are all so blessed to have you as a son of our soil in Trinidad and Tobago. Can you imagine what we would have lost if God had placed you in another part of the world? We thank God for the miracle that is YOU. You are just where God wants you to be.”
One year on, we now say farewell to this great Statesman.