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2015

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) – August 16

by Archbishop Joseph Harris
by Archbishop Joseph Harris

Gospel John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

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2015

Nineteeth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) – August 9

by Archbishop Joseph Harris
by Archbishop Joseph Harris

John 6:41-51

For a very long time, the Government, through the Ministry of Education, has emphasised a curriculum which deals principally with technology and business.

There have been many cries for a return to spirituality in our schools but unless the spiritual has pride of place in our thinking, the cries for a return to spirituality fall on deaf ears. The result, as we have seen, is an emphasis on the material, the making of money and the desire for comfort above all else. This has led to an uncontrolled desire to make money and to all kinds of white collar crimes and to violence. Our development as a nation has therefore been stunted because true development must take the spiritual side of humanity into account.

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columns2015

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI

“The interests of the indigenous peoples must be part of the new development agenda in order for it to succeed…Together, let us recognize and celebrate the valuable and distinctive identities of indigenous peoples around the world. Let us work even harder to empower them and support their aspirations.” – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

On Sunday, August 9 the world will observe the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The theme this year is: “Post 2015 Agenda: Ensuring indigenous peoples’ health and well-being.”

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2015

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) – August 2

by Archbishop Joseph Harris
by Archbishop Joseph Harris

John 6:24-35

When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered: “I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.”

They then said to him, “What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?” Jesus gave them this answer, “This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.” So they said, “What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

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columns2015

What does Emancipation mean to you?

by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI

On Saturday August 1, TT will once again observe Emancipation Day. On this day in 1985, TT’s Government declared Emancipation Day a national holiday to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834.

We recall that although The Abolition of Slavery Act was passed in August 1833 and came into effect on August 1, 1834, slavery was not really abolished in the British Caribbean until 1838. After 1834 a “new raft of law-and-order measures” came into effect.

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