Archbishop to CTC: continue discerning charism

If Trinidad and Tobago could get the “secret formula” of the Companions of the Transfigured Christ (CTC) Community, then gangs will be transformed into companions of the transfigured Christ in the next 25 years.

“I think you all have a winning formula that you need to share with national security, that transform-ation, that is very necessary in the country right now,” Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon said at a Mass for the silver jubilee of the CTC held at Green Meadows in Santa Cruz on Saturday, August 9.

It was on the Feast of the Transfiguration [August 6] 25 years ago that Kyle Dardaine, Shad Seaton, and Fr Mikkel Trestrail met. They later formed a group, God’s Anointed New Generation (GANG) and that evolved into the CTC ecclesial community.

A community emerges by the will of God, through a call and a vocation but it also answers that call inspired by the desire to follow Christ. “In something that might seem crazy to some, strange to others, amazing to some, but it is always a response to a call, and the discerning of that call is always a delicate but very important part of the life of the Community,” the Archbishop said.

As discernment deepens, the community’s identity becomes clearer and Christ shines more brightly through it. Archbishop Gordon called charism “a specific grace” communities bring to the Church and through which God works.

He told the CTC to mull over their charism for the next 25 years and ask themselves what specific grace God has entrusted to them to nurture for the sake of the Church, His people, and His kingdom.

“When a community understands its charism and focuses on it, and does it relentlessly, grace flows in ways that you just can’t imagine,” he said. A word of caution was given not to be distracted from their charism as this can lead to “murky waters” where seeing, understanding, and experiencing the grace of God becomes difficult.

Archbishop Gordon shared the qualities of companions of the transfigured Christ. “We have an instruction from God about what the role of a disciple needs to be. Our role is to listen to Him. Many times, we think our role is to give Him instructions.”

Listening is reflected in the quality of prayer and silence which allows people to hear the subtle movements of God in the soul.

The second quality of a companion is that they are trinitarian, invited to a mystical union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit “making their home in us,” Archbishop Gordon said.

The companion is “willing to walk with Christ to the Crucifixion”; choosing to walk in powerlessness. Archbishop Gordon said grace has taken the Community to places they never would have anticipated 25 years ago: “it has been a journey different from anything you thought when you started, and that too is the grace of God.”

The Archbishop thanked the CTC for their 25 years of charism. He urged them to “carefully discern that charism and attend to it as a pearl of great price…because that is what is most precious to the Community and that makes the Community most precious to God”.

At the Mass, members Alicia John and Dominic Del Pino renewed their covenant with the Community for another year, while a third, Charles Yearwood, made a permanent, lifetime commitment.

Dardaine delivered the vote of thanks on behalf of the Community before the dismissal. An honour reception was held after Mass.