By Vernon Khelawan

If we took the opportunity to renew our faith during this past year, then the message in Luke’s Gospel (17:5) – when the Apostles said to Jesus, “Increase our faith” – would be now more meaningful to us.

Jesus answered, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore (tree), ‘be uprooted and transplanted into the sea’, and it would obey you.”

As we approach the end of the Year of Faith next Sunday, we must reflect as individuals and as a Church, particularly as a Church, whether we have been truly able to renew our faith, even though it might just be the size of a mustard seed.

When the Year of Faith was launched on October 11 last year, the hope was that Catholics in this Archdiocese would join Catholics the world over in faith building activities. To assist us, Archbishop Joseph Harris, in his first Pastoral Letter, wrote, “This faith, to which so many dedicated their lives, has been passed on to us, to you and to me. We, you and I, have the responsibility of passing it on to our children and grandchildren. This is our responsibility and this must be our commitment.”

The Letter continued, “As we know and live our faith, it will become easier for us to share our faith. It is much easier to live our faith in community than to try to live it alone. The struggles, which we face as we confront the attacks of relativism and secularism, are more frequent and more sustained.”

“We will be able to overcome the attacks and temptations coming from these ways of thinking and acting, only if we live the unity for which Christ died on the cross,” added the Archbishop. “One of the ways in which this unity is built is by faith sharing in our communities and parishes.”

This column hopes that the blessings of the Year of Faith will live on as the Church seeks to bring the message of Jesus Christ to every corner of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain and to the wider world.