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Lent 2022: “Communion is… community”

Natasha Babwah-Tim Kee shares her thoughts and reflections for the Lenten season

Two weeks ago, I attended my parish’s week-long Lenten retreat and was very excited to hear our featured speaker Fr Martin Sirju, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain.

I heard Fr Sirju for the first time at a televised Mass early in the pandemic and instantly liked his natural, down-to-earth style and so I looked forward to hearing his sermon.

Being exposed to a variety of priests at these televised Masses during the lockdown got me thinking about how blessed we are as a Church to be gifted with priests who are excellent writers, speakers, counsellors, mentors, evangelists, and the list goes on.

It’s easy to take for granted that every weekend we go to Mass and receive advice, counselling, and practical life lessons on how we are called to live God’s Word in today’s world, free of charge.

Our priests are readily available to us as lay persons if we’re ever in need of any of the sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist or First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Penance and the Anointing of the Sick.

Father’s topic for the retreat was ‘Communion’. What is Communion and how does it impact our daily lives?

For a lot of us, Communion is the bread we receive every weekend at Mass as the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, the real presence of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And yes, it is.

Father explained that ‘Communion’ is also the way in which we live with each other. The ways that we interact with and treat our spouses, children, family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbours.

That communion is community: a coming together of all of God’s creation, to share and to love each other. To help each other through this journey of life and to always show kindness for Jesus’ sake.

Communion is a covenant from God, and covenant is a promise that He is in us and with us, protecting us and showing us mercy, extending His grace to us, and guiding us through each moment of the day. The day that He made for us.

He is the one true God, and we are made in His image and likeness; likeness means ‘being like God’ so if we are made like Him therefore, we can be like Him in this world.

He is omnipotent—having unlimited power. And who else but God has unlimited power? Not the Devil. God has unlimited power to do whatever He wants to in our lives.

And once God is in control, we know it’s going to be for our best. We simply have to call out to Him and ask for what we need. Tell Him what we want from Him. Ask for His help. And He will surely come to our aid.

Seems like such a simple solution yet still so hard to do.

Father went on to demonstrate how Communion is made visible in each segment of the Mass and the many ways in which we celebrate being in communion with Jesus and each other.

Celebrating Communion marks the story of Jesus, how He gave Himself completely to give us a better life, a new start, and a fresh relationship with God.

Of course, we too must bring something to the table and strive each day to live in communion with God and to listen to His voice. We must be obedient, but obedience is a very hard practice for us. I know it all too well.

Being obedient to God can sometimes feel like we have to give up some of the worldly things we’ve come to enjoy but it’s really only when we actually turn to God and seek to live in communion with Him the world begins to matter less and less and our lives become a lot more peaceful and enjoyable.

The mission this week is to go out into the world and bring Jesus to the people by my life and to do my best to live in communion with all of creation.

 

Natasha Babwah-Tim Kee is a widow, mother, singer, songwriter, music minister, educator, animal rescuer and activist who loves God more than anything in this world and is on a mission to do her part in protecting the earth and all of its inhabitants.