Category: columns2018

columns2018

Arrival and cohesion

Post author By Web administrator
Post date May 27, 2018

by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI

“The political and social climate that prevails in the world today emphasises difference, disunity, and destruction rather than the qualities of unity and productive and constructive energy that are required to sustain human societies. These negative processes and forces have perpetuated our alienation from the basic material roots of our existence, the natural world of which we are a part”. —Roxande Lalonde (Unity in Diversity: Acceptance and Integration in an Era of Intolerance and Fragmentation, MA Thesis, 1994)

On Wednesday, May 30, the nation will observe the 173^rd anniversary of Indians arriving in T&T. Like Lalonde, I believe that we can have “unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation”.

Tags holiday, Indian Arrival Day

columns2018

A ministry for migrants & refugees

Post author By Web administrator
Post date May 20, 2018

“Are we open to ‘God’s surprises’? Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which God’s newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in transient structures which have lost their capacity for openness to what is new?” (Pope Francis)

This Pentecost, let us embrace the initiative of Archbishop Jason Gordon and members of the Vicars’ Council who agreed at a recent meeting that a Ministry for Migrants and Refugees would be established in each parish and ecclesial community. The archbishop followed up this decision in his May 6 Catholic News column. He has asked that we entrust this ministry to Our Lady of the Wayside.

Tags migrants, refugees

columns2018

See Christ in the face of each mother

Post author By Web administrator
Post date May 13, 2018

Let us remember and reach out to those mothers who are struggling to make ends meet; those mothers whose children have moved away and who hardly visit them or communicate with them; those mothers for whom loneliness is their only companion.

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI

“Her children stand up and proclaim her blessed. Her husband, too, sings her praises” Proverbs 31:28

Today is Mother’s Day. Thank God for mothers! Amidst the joy, laughter and love that will be shared today, I want to share an uncomfortable perspective with you to raise awareness of some of the social ills that beset some mothers in our communities/world and which we need to address if we are to build a just society/world.

Tags motherhood, mothers

columns2018

Families and inclusive societies

Post author By Web administrator
Post date May 13, 2018

On Tuesday, May 15, the world will observe the International Day of Families on the theme: Families and inclusive societies.

The UN states: “Although families all over the world have transformed greatly over the past decades in terms of their structure and as a result of global trends and demographic changes, the UN still recognises the family as the basic unit of society. The International Day of Families provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting them…This year’s observance will explore the role of families and family policies in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 16 in terms of promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.”

Tags family life, human development, society

columns2018

Working towards an AIDS-free Caribbean

Post author By Web administrator
Post date May 6, 2018

In today’s Gospel reading (Jn 15: 9–17) we focus on the greatest commandment that Jesus gave us: “love one another, as I have loved you“. If we are to “remain” in Christ, we must follow this Commandment.

In May 2015, Pope Francis, on reflecting on this Gospel reading, said: “…true love is real, it is in the works it does, it is a constant love. It is not a mere enthusiasm…the works of love are what Jesus teaches us in the passage from the 25^th chapter of St Matthew. He, who loves, does these things…even the Beatitudes, which are Jesus’ ‘pastoral plan’…There is no love without communicating…True love cannot isolate itself. If it is isolated, it is not love…To abide in the love of Jesus means doing things, it is, an ability to communicate, to dialogue, both with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters.”

Tags AIDS, HIV, PANCAP