“A good pastor, a pastor after the heart of God, is the greatest treasure that the good God can give to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy…Oh how great is the priesthood!” (St John Vianney, the holy Curé d’Ars).
As I stood watching the many young people who joined His Grace on Sunday, January 13, at his Vocations “Lime” at Archbishop’s House, I prayed that the Lord of the harvest would send out more labourers into his harvest (Mt 9:37). I thank God for sending us faithful priests. One such priest was Fr Henry Charles who passed away on Jan 15, and whose life we celebrate.
Fr Charles’ passing gives us an opportunity to remind ourselves of the great gift of the priesthood. Blessed John Paul II, in his Letter to Priests (2004) reminded them:
“…dear brother priests…never forget that you yourselves are the first ‘Apostles’ of Jesus the High Priest. Your own witness counts more than anything else…There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist…The Eucharist is a mystery of faith, yet the priesthood itself, by reflection, is also a mystery of faith”
Each priest represents Christ. Pope Benedict XVI has reminded us that, “The function of the clergy is essential and irreplaceable in announcing the Word and celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist” (2009). He said, “… in the life of the priest, missionary proclamation and worship are never separable, just as the ontological-sacramental identity and the evangelising mission are not separable.
Apart from that, he said, the objective of every priest’s mission is to enable all people to “offer themselves to God as a living host, holy and pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1)…What I have written in the encyclical Deus Caritas Est is also true for priests: ‘Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction’ (No. 1). Having received such an extraordinary gift of grace with their ‘consecration’, priests become permanent witnesses of their encounter with Christ.”
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I listened to parishioners who were first interviewed by the media outside St Mary’s parish Church, Mucurapo, as news circulated about Fr Charles’ passing. He was parish priest there for the past five years. They described him as a “very knowledgeable man”; a “father to the community”; “a priest for all times, always engaging, never turning away anyone in distress. He was caring, loving and giving.”
Here were Catholics who were justifiably proud of their parish priest; a priest who used his many talents to build the common good. Since much has been written about Fr Charles, I shall focus on my personal encounter with him over the past few years.
Since I had lived abroad for many years, I really got to know Fr Charles when the then Msgr Jason Gordon and I established a Standing Committee on Morals and Values at the beginning of 2010. Since CCSJ has responsibility for taking a lead in implementing our Archdiocese’s third Pastoral Priority: “Regenerating the Moral and Spiritual Values of our Society”, the Commission decided to adopt one of the strategies that was suggested at the third sitting of Synod in 2009 – to conduct an analysis of factors which have contributed to the decline of moral and spiritual values in our society and to develop strategies for their regeneration. We planned to produce a baseline study to determine what programmes have worked in society, and what more can be done to address social problems.
Because of Fr Charles’ humility, he declined the offer to Chair the Standing Committee but agreed to be a member of the Committee. Surindra Arjoon, UWI, chaired the Committee and the empirical data collected will assist CCSJ in our work. Fr Charles had an amazing intellect and made excellent contributions during our brainstorming sessions. I could still hear his voice as he threw out questions for us to note e.g.
“Is ‘sin’ considered as ‘sin’ today? Have we lost a sense of the ‘sacred’? What are the true facts in relation to ‘family life’ in T&T and the Caribbean? How will we influence family life and influence it to what? Who will guide the youths who see few role models, few exemplars? What is the rate of divorce and annulment in the Catholic community? How can we promote reflective thinking among citizens? What does the laity consider spirituality to be? What happens after Confirmation? Why are so many Catholics not attending Sunday Mass?”
Dear Fr Charles, you were truly a gift to our Church. We thank God for your life of selfless service, including your 40 plus years of dedicated priestly service. May we be able to discern God’s call in our life and respond, as you did, by saying,“Yes!” May you rest in peace. CCSJ extend our condolences to Fr Charles’ family and loved ones.
