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Jesus Explosion: World Cup Edition

Fr Ian Taylor and the Singh family who testified to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.

Who would have thought that anyone would attend a spiritual event during the World Cup Finals?

It was an oversight when the annual ‘Jesus Explosion’ was booked for July 13 to the 15 at the Trinity College East auditorium.  However, to our pleasant surprise, the hall was packed from the first night right to the end. I guess sometimes we underestimate the hunger for the Word of God.

The preaching of the Word was exceptionally thought provoking. The theme for the Jesus Explosion (JE) was taken from Matthew 24:42, Stay awake, for you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

The feature speaker, Fr Louis Merosne hailed from Haiti. Days before the JE there was civil unrest and rioting in Haiti due to the proposed hike in the fuel prices. Fr Louis could not leave his home to travel to the airport but with prayer and supplication, God made a way and he was able to join us.

His preaching and actions were led by the Holy Spirit. He was often spontaneous and blessed the congregation on the first night by reaffirming our baptismal vows followed by blessing with holy water.

His preaching was direct and very deep and he unashamedly used analogies referring to the conjugal act to explain God’s love and promises which raised an eyebrow until we understood what he meant.

Fr Louis adored the babies and children he met, hugging and kissing them so tenderly. He even beatboxed before one of his talks which the youths greatly enjoyed. Fr Louis was big on family life and fostering community.

Frs Stoute and Nathasingh both exhorted the gathering to have a change of heart and bear the fruit of repentance. They admonished that a change of attitude was required from the gathering that would attract people to the Catholic faith.

Fr Ian Taylor, the Spiritual Director of the Jesus Explosion gave the Holy Spirit talk which included a testimony from a family of five transformed by their encounter with the Holy Spirit after completing a life-in-the-spirit seminar.

Their story inspired us. They spoke of the importance of the head of the family being converted and brought to deeper faith which filtered down to the other members (of course not without persecutions).

During the talk on the Eucharist, Fr Taylor again spoke about a young man who entered a life of love from one of unforgiveness and bitterness. He returned to his school and changed the culture to holiness.

Then Father Taylor called a young man who was an ex-gang member who left that lifestyle after his encounter with the Blessed Sacrament ministry in the previous Jesus Explosion. These testimonies bolstered our faith.

The closing Mass was officiated by the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu.

The Jesus Explosion was attended by missionaries from Slovenia, Jamaica and Guyana. The five Slovenian teams, led by Sanja Obaha Brodnjak, had just concluded their second Jesus Explosion in Slovenia.

The Jamaican contingent was led by Deacon Baldwin Powell. The other members were Fr Wojciech Szpylma, originally from Poland but based in Reading Parish, Karen and Marlon Mc Kenzie who are co-ordinators of the Youth Commission of Jamaica and two other representatives from the Ministry of Education.

The 20-member missionary team from Guyana was led by Joseph Wells. They came from Region One and most were teenagers. They had a ball in the Lord.

There were a number of people from diverse age brackets attending the Jesus Explosion for the first time. Let me take this opportunity to thank all who were involved in the planning and sponsoring the Jesus Explosion. Look out for the Jesus Explosion Revival on September 23. – Gregory Quan Kep, Jesus Explosion Committee Member.