The weekend highlighted several ‘firsts’ for many of us and demonstrated the beauty and resilience of St Joseph RC Church, Scarborough, Tobago. Couples For Christ (CFC) Ministry, the newly appointed parish priests of Scarborough and Delaford, Fr Mathias Mulumba Ssajjabbi and Fr Peter St Hilaire, gathered in celebration of CFC’s 27th anniversary.
With over 75 members and friends who came from Trinidad to Tobago, this year’s commemoration commenced with a Walk for Life on Saturday, January 18, which garnered the participation of several groups. An innovative and moving rendition of ecumenical and community involvement of Girl Guides, Salvation Army, Pentecostal Assemblies, the Anglican and Presbyterian churches, youths, women’s groups, families, and the wider communities in Tobago joined in prayer for the preservation of the dignity and sanctity of life. We walked through the streets of Scarborough with placards bearing life giving-messages in one hand and rosaries in the other.
Josiah Gosyne, Pastoral Intern, from Covenant Reformed Evangelical Church, Trinidad, shared his experience of the walk. “St Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, reminds us in chapter 12 to be a ‘living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.’ Of all the places that I expected the call of God to rest upon my heart to stand boldly for Him in sacrifice, I could not possibly have placed the streets of Scarborough on an early Saturday morning on my bingo card. And yet, there I stood, and there I walked, and there I prayed, that our God and our King would bring salvation and peace to all of life, from the unborn to the oldest of us.
It was by no means comfortable, and looking back now, I think that this is precisely the point. So many times, in my own Christian walk, I had grown both comfortable in my present state and somewhat ashamed of my Lord and my King. Not in the sense to ever deny Him, but perhaps not be as vocal as I possibly can be. The streets of Scarborough reminded me of exactly that—there is no room for even a sliver of shame, but instead every step, every word, and every prayer must be a sacrificial worship unto the Lord. It was an experience outside of my comfort zone, and I would have it no other way. For indeed, my King was likely never comfortable while He walked this Earth, yet He walked and died for me, and so too, through the Couples for Christ Walk for Life, I find that I am empowered to serve my Lord as a living sacrifice, which is my spiritual worship—to walk for Him, only the smallest fraction of what He must have walked for me.”
Immediately after the walk, we all congregated at the St Joseph RC Church, where we started and were enlightened by brother Joseph Timothy on biblical and historical interpretations, in his keynote of regaining a culture of peace. Referencing the Holy Bible, Timothy disclosed that, “we are where we are today because ‘the wages of sin is death’ and ‘we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’.” He spoke of the ‘I’ culture filtering into our normal day-to-day vocabulary with words such as ‘iPad and iPhone’, etc. He also highlighted some biblically guided points which, if we put into practice and persevere, will bring about the peace we pray for.
The first point of action was taken from 2 Chronicles 7:14-16, “If my people who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Timothy advocated that praying for grace cannot be underestimated. We should pray for the grace of humility, practise self-denial, place others before ourselves, and unite our suffering with our prayer, with that of Christ. He reminded us that prayer in faith moves mountains and Psalm 34:10, “Those who seek the Lord shall lack nothing.”
In closing, he referenced Ephesians 4:22-24 which instructs believers to put off their old selves and former way of life and that this transformation can only occur through the power of the Holy Spirit. For Catholics, we must avail ourselves more regularly of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
National Director of CFC, Mark Poon Tip, thanked Timothy for stepping up to deliver this talk at short notice, in place of Archbishop Emeritus Robert Rivas OP who was hospitalised mere days before the Walk. We are thankful that Archbishop Rivas is recuperating well.
Our 27th CFC Anniversary Mass was celebrated on Sunday, January 19 at the St Joseph RC Church with parish priest Fr Ssajjabbi officiating. In his homily, he captivated the congregation with some humour with a story of the miracle of the water being transformed into wine in an atmosphere of the ‘State of Emergency’ ending with the priest blessing the police officer.
He later tied in the real story of the Wedding Feast at Cana where, before the miracle of the transformation of the water into wine, Mary told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you”. Fr Ssajjabbi reminded us to do the same.
We thank all who participated and saw our celebrations to fruition. Special thanks to our resident Coordinator, sister Rosetta Forde, the indefatigable leader of our CFC unit in Tobago, along with the leadership teams from both islands. In our Year of Jubilee, the CFC Ministry seeks to live out our vision ardently, ‘families in the Holy Spirit renewing the face of the earth’.
Submitted by members of the CFC Ministry