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One definition of the word ‘reflection’ is “serious and careful thought”. As we emerge from the turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic and continue to journey together throughout the synodal process, many have stopped to pause and indeed give their lives and community relations, serious and careful thought.
As Catholics, we are called to view the world and serve God in a specific way, which requires a deeper and daily connection with Christ. St Jerome famously said, “the ignorance of scripture is the ignorance of Christ” and the call from the synodal process within Trinidad and Tobago is clear – each of us needs a deeper connection to Jesus and daily formation.
As such, Catholic Media Services Ltd (CAMSEL) is committed to creating content that meets the needs of our local Catholic community, with the development of the daily gospel and accompanying reflections both in written and video formats.
This idea of reflecting on the gospel is not new, but rather a treasured process called the Lectio Divina or “divine reading”. This process is described by Unleashthegospel.org as a call “… to spend some time to contemplate on the scriptures, to see how the Word speaks to us, and then calls us to action. Another way would be to use our imagination while we’re reading the scriptures. Using our imagination means that we enter into the passage as though we we’re there. We recognize the details, what the weather feels like to us, how Jesus might look at us. And then we use all of those images. Reading the scriptures is a necessary part of every Christian life. Be disciplined, ask the Lord what he wants to speak to you, and then ask for the grace to live it out.”
The written daily reflections on the Gospel are also not new to the digital presence of our local Catholic Church, CatholicTT, but a venture established in 2018 and pioneered by Monsignor Cuthbert Alexander, former Vicar of Communications and Father Robert Christo, present Vicar of Communications.
They saw a need to produce locally relevant material that was developed by our own people from which we could bring alive God’s Word to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
A special thanks to the reflections team, and Valerie Bethel, who sit with God’s Word and share their daily insights in personal and deeply profound messages. To further bring alive the message of God, a video aspect to the reflection has been added and can be accessed each morning on CatholicTT’s YouTube channel.
Written by Dominique Heffes-Doon
