A note of gratitude from the Archdiocesan Festival Choir

By Winston Garcia

Coordinator and conductor

Greetings and Jubilee blessings to all our brothers and sisters of every parish, religious congregation, archdiocesan department, ecclesial community and church organisation in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain.

As lead of the 300-voice Archdiocesan Festival Choir, I hereby express our heartfelt gratitude, for being charged with the responsibility of providing appropriate music to suit the ministerial function of every aspect of our recently concluded Eucharistic Congress in our Archdiocese.

Your reaction, the faithful, to our ministry on the day was extremely heartwarming, encouraging and energising. I hasten, therefore, to let everyone know that the effort was a perfect example of responsible, dedicated and prayerful teamwork by talented members of our Church.

We take this opportunity therefore, to thank all the persons who contributed in large or small ways to the resounding success of our ministry on the day of the Congress.

We thank the Most Holy Trinity, Fr Jesse’s Archdiocesan coordinating team, the Archdiocesan Festival planning team, all our gifted musicians, all our singers especially our section leaders, parishes that hosted rehearsals, our local composers, our faithful Tobago contingent, generous members who contributed financially to defray expenses and make possible our thanksgiving Mass and luncheon.

Special mention must be made of Gregory Wong Fo Sue for his expert musical directorship, and Debbie Garcia, our diligent and hardworking administrator. Lastly, thanks to Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon for reposing such confidence in our chosen vocation as missionary musicians in our church.

Singing out to the Lord

During the latter part of February, I was fortunate to be added to the Archdiocesan Festival Choir for the Eucharistic Congress by Cynthia Nanton of St Charles RC Church, Tunapuna. This massive choir was orchestrated under the astounding leadership of a hardworking couple, Winston and Debbie Garcia. Gregory Wong Fo Sue was the musical director.

It was my very first experience, and true grit, determination with sacrifice that all members committed to being punctual were required. It was a pleasure to secure my position as a male tenor; a dream came true.

At the first rehearsal, the women comprised descants, altos and sopranos and overwhelmed the male members, who were bass and tenors. But we eventually got it right from practice, practice, and more practice. When the time came to sing two Latin hymns, I was a complete novice, but with practice, it became as natural as singing in English.

Gregory is a genius. His musical display on the keyboard and singing is truly resounding. I wondered where he got the physical and mental energy for four-five hours of the five rehearsals. It must be the grape drink! Apart from his humour, he was stern in making sure every section got it right.

We thank God for good weather to facilitate the south and central choir members’ attendance of the practices. Though I am a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Tacarigua choir for several years, it was a dream come true to be in the company of Catholic gospel writers as Gregory, Winston, Sheldon Akai, Kevin Millien (Martin), Jill-Ann Walters-Morris, Marceline Peters, and others.

On the day of the Eucharistic Congress, showers of blessing rained on us early in the morning, an assuring sign that it was going to be a glorious day. As I entered the Queen’s Park Oval, there were visible jersey colours of red, yellow, blue, and green. The hospitality members’ greetings were warm and caring. The sun peaked for a long time until we received another shower of blessing. Truly, we are Pilgrims of Hope, yearning to be on a journey to the Kingdom of God.

Because as we escalated in our singing, the Holy Spirit dwelt on all of us and teardrops trickled from my eyes. Alleluia! I felt the spirit of holiness and love. God is with us! —Gregory J Neptune, Tacarigua