Catholic Commission for Social Justice
“Crime flourishes when the environment is conducive to people behaving in a certain way.” Sir Dennis Byron, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Sir Dennis made this statement on June 14, 2014 at a symposium held at UWI in honour of the late Dana Saroop Seetahal SC. It was entitled: Re-engineering the Criminal Justice System (CJS). I was one of the speakers at the symposium.
“From the very beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them, and gave them a share in his mission, joy, and sufferings” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 787).
In today’s Gospel (Matt 4:12-23) we see Jesus calling His first four disciples – ordinary fishermen –two pairs of brothers: Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, and James and John, sons of Zebedee.
It was Maya Angelou who said: “When you know better, do better.” We say that we are Christ’s disciples, his followers, but are we allowing Him to move in our lives? We know better, that is, that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, as John the Baptist acknowledges in today’s Gospel (John 1:29-34), but does this knowledge lead us to “do better”?
On Wednesday, December28, my 91-year-old father, Balgobin Ramdeen, retired attorney-at-law, author, and former Member of Parliament for Caroni East, passed away in a London hospital. He had been ailing for a while. By the time you read this he would have been cremated. His ashes will be brought back to Trinidad.
We thank everyone for their kind tributes. Pa’s granddaughter, Caroline, said: “Goodbye beautiful grandpa, you instilled great values in all of us and gave us all a chance to live a good life.You will be greatly missed…May your values and wisdom live on in all of us.”
CCSJ wishes each of you abundant blessings and peace for the new year. In the past, Pope Francis has asked us to engage in an annual examination of conscience: “Have we used [the past year] mostly for ourselves, for our own interests or did we know to spend it for others, too? How much time did we set aside for being with God, in prayer, in silence, in adoration?” he said.
In looking towards the new year, he has encouraged us to be “grateful for what we have received, repentant for our failings and be resolute to work with God’s grace to better our lives, our communities and ourselves.”