Tag: event

columns2016

Nurturing a culture of encounter at Diwali

Post author By Web administrator
Post date October 30, 2016

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ (http://rcsocialjusticett.org) & Director, CREDI

Today, October 30, T&T will celebrate Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights. In my childhood, my Hindu father taught us, his children, about the significance of this festival. Inter alia, it is a celebration of the victory of dharma, good over evil, light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance.
There are days of house-cleaning before this auspicious occasion to ensure that Mother Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, beauty and prosperity enters the home. Hindu scriptures state that at midnight she enters homes, so Hindus clean and decorate their homes to welcome her.

Tags Divali, event, festival

columns2016

Love Jesus – Love Youth

Post author By Web administrator
Post date July 30, 2016

by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI

Today marks the final day of the 31st international celebration of World Youth Day (WYD) in Kraków, Poland (July 25-31). More than two million people from around the world were expected to take part in the celebration which was launched by St John Paul II in 1985 and which takes place every two or three years.

Tags event, WYD, Youth

columns2016

Celebrating the Feminine genius

Post author By Web administrator
Post date March 6, 2016

“Women don’t just bear life but transmit to us the ability to see otherwise, they see things differently…” Pope Francis

Tuesday, March 8, the world will observe International Women’s Day which, as the United Nations (UN) states “is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.”

Tags event, women

columns2015

The value of a Past-Pupils’ Association

Post author By Web administrator
Post date December 13, 2015

Leela Ramdeen (centre) with some of her classmates from 1961 at the annual dinner.

Sitting in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception during the December 5 Rededication, the words of Exodus 25:8 came to mind. The Lord told Moses: “build me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among my people.”

Our Cathedral is truly an oasis in an area of the capital where so many of the “least” of our brothers and sisters dwell – on the streets and in a car park allocated to the homeless! It is in them, also, that our Lord dwells, and we are all called to see Him in their faces and to cry out for justice for them.

That same evening, I was the feature speaker at the Annual Dinner at Holy Faith Convent, Couva (HFC) – my alma mater, on “The value of a Past-Pupils Association (PPA).” Here is an extract from my presentation:

Tags event

columns2015

Family – the world’s greatest resource

Post author By Web administrator
Post date October 10, 2015

“Faith grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to grow in faith…I leave you with this question, for each one of you to respond to. In my home, do we yell, or do we speak with love and tenderness? This is a good way to recognise our love…Love is seen and felt in everyday gestures” (Pope Francis).

These profound words uttered by Pope Francis in his homily at the Mass for the conclusion of the recently held 8th World Meeting of Families (WMOF) encapsulate the heart of his message to us and to the world. The night before the Mass, in the midst of the amazing Festival of Families, he reminded us that: “Love is something we learn; love is something we live; love grows as it is ‘forged’ by the concrete situations which each particular family experiences. Love is born and constantly develops amid lights and shadows.”

Tags event, family life