The role and function of the permanent diaconate
November 27, 2018
Pizza, with a saltfish omelet on the side…*
December 2, 2018

Carapichaima talks evangelisation

Fr Gerard Bernier (right) discusses issues with participants.

Our Lady of Mt Carmel Parish, Carapichaima is hosting a two-part programme entitled ‘Let’s talk Evangelization’ at the parish hall. Part one was completed October 20–November 10 and the second part runs January 12February 23, 2019.

Led by parish priest Fr Gerard Bernier and assisted by Margaret Wilson Stewart-Williams from the Evangelization Commission, this duo has brought to the community a method to move the parish forward together via evangelisation. The programme caters for catechists, teachers, youth and anyone who feels called to evangelise. The sessions commenced with praise and worship followed by the reading of the Gospel and then sharing with a partner.

In session one held on October 20, the group focused on: ‘Let’s Talk Evangelization’. This topic exposed members to the meaning of evangelisation, methods, the history and mission of the parish, and the action plan.

A great part of this session dealt with the various generations: Traditionalist (before 1946); the Baby Boomers (1947–63); Generation X (1964–1980); Generation Y (1981–2000); and Millennials (after 2000).

We are now being prepared for this new evangelisation in relation to the era of digital refugees, digital tourists, digital immigrants and digital natives.

Session two on October 27 discussed “Whom are we dealing with, where they are and how did they get there?”.

Broken homes, broken upbringing, violence, trauma, relationships, generational emptiness (no God in their lives), stress, low self-esteem, poor choices in life, loss of ability to love, lack of motivation, low self-worth, anger and resentment were some of the areas that people are dealing with and the situations they encounter.

Participants were engaged in discussions about these areas and Fr Gerard later shared other areas where the face of evil can be seen: family history in the occult, pornography, drug and other forms of abuse.

The third session on November 3 focused on the “Spirituality of the New Evangelization”. Stewart-Williams led this session directing participants to their expectations as they prepare to evangelise.

Each Christian shares in the life of Jesus, His priesthood, His prophetic ministry and His kingship. Methods of how this can be achieved were derived from participants’ daily prayer time, regular Mass attendance, confession and reaching out to others.

Areas in kingship were to serve people, witnessing to and showing selfless love. In Jesus’ house practices of devotions, rosary, Lectio Divina, meditation and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament were all identified and discussed.

The final session held on November 10 was led by Fr Gerard, Stewart-Williams and Gary Tagallie. His presentation identified intentional discipleship. Tagallie presented the group with the facts from a population census completed in 2011 relating to poverty by communities and the multi-dimensional poverty index calculated from the census.

The index was highlighted in the dimensions of education, health, labour, and living standards. These were presented to the members of the group as to ‘See, Judge and Act’. The map of Trinidad was presented and areas with multi-dimensional poverty were highlighted. It is a real situation in need of us to answer the call to evangelise.

Participants are looking forward to part two of the programme in January. This is a wonderful opportunity to respond to God’s call in our lives; it guides each person to reach someone, to do something about moving the parish and lives of our citizens forward. Our call to evangelise is a call from God. – Rosemarie Siewnarine, participant.