Books by His Grace

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Missioning the Domestic Church

In this inspirational and thought-provoking book, Archbishop Dr. Charles Jason Gordon shares his views on the family in building our Church and society. He appropriately uses the term “domestic Church” for the family, since the family is the first unit for healing, restoration, and revival. It is, therefore, the first (domestic) level of the Church and society.

The key role of family members is that of first teachers of their offspring – the children under their care and control. When this role is not fulfilled, schools, governments, and the Church are expected to fill in. None of these institutions is a well-placed surrogate to effectively address this unique role. Families are, in fact, sleeping giants. They need to see themselves as critical to the changes necessary at all levels of society. The positive influence of the family can favourably impact the economy and development, and minimise corruption.

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Food for Our Journey I

Food for Our Journey, Volume 1, is a collection of Sunday and weekday homilies given during the season of Lent, Holy Week and Easter Sunday in the year 2020. In the Catholic Tradition, “Food for Our Journey” has many connections. It evokes what God did for the people during the Exodus (Ex. 16) – He gave them manna to eat every day in the desert. This daily feeding was a matter of life and death for the people of the Exodus.

As Bishop Gordon writes: “For many people plunged into the desert of the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily bread of the word was a gift from God that sustained us on our journey. Every day, I was fed by the word. Every day, I fed the people. For Bishop and people it was, indeed, food for our journey.”

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Birthing the Word of God: A Little Book on Christian Preaching

This book is a compilation of my writings on preaching. It is intended to offer the reader a journey through the rudiments of preaching as a discipline, to the deeper calling of mystagogue. It is my belief that preaching is an underutilised gift, that within the Church it is too seldom used to its full potential. A preacher who understands the rudiments and follows them with a sense of the depth of the journey, who furthermore has been initiated into the sacred mysteries, begins to allow the gift of preaching to mature in him and to offer fine aged wine.

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St Joseph: The pathway to Caribbean masculinity

This little book offers my reasons for faith. As such, it charts my exploration of some of the big questions and challenges to belief in God. These explorations led me to a deeper encounter with God, who defies definition, yet, has been the great treasure of my life. Exploring just twelve areas, including faith, science, philosophy, and near-death experiences, you’ll find that none of these areas hold the entire picture of God, and no one has all the answers.

My intent is not to convince you to change your position, but if belief in God is feeling like a rough fit, or if you’re weary of the niggling discomfiture or stone-weight of doubt, I invite you to linger over these pages and explore the reasons for this faith that consoles, strengthens, and ennobles so many.

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St Joseph: The pathway to Caribbean masculinity

This little book on St Joseph expresses my hope for a generation of healthy, holy Caribbean men, and puts forward a pathway towards this aspiration. Our experience of growing in the Caribbean has given us a unique view on masculinity, but we are greatly influenced by a global culture and its distinctive views, as well. God’s choice of St Joseph to be father of his only-begotten son reveals to us and earthly model of the holy masculinity that is in very short supply in our Caribbean today. I invite you to an adventure of discovering the Saint and the path along which he guides us today.

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Food for Our Journey II

This second volume of Food for the Journey features homilies from Easter Sunday to Pentecost in the year 2020. In the Catholic Tradition, “Food for Our Journey” has many connections. It evokes what God did for the people during the Exodus (Ex. 16) – He gave them manna to eat every day in the desert. This daily feeding was a matter of life and death for the people of the Exodus.

As Bishop Gordon writes: “For many people plunged into the desert of the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily bread of the word was a gift from God that sustained us on our journey. Every day, I was fed by the word. Every day, I fed the people. For Bishop and people it was, indeed, food for our journey.”

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A Caribbean Perspective on Catholic Social Justice, Volume 1: Eucharist: Care for the Poor and Vulnerable

This book is an invitation to reflect on one dimension of the life of the Church: a God who makes Himself like us in all things, even unto death – death on a cross. This connection between Christ, His Church, and the poor is vital if we are to understand the depths of the Catholic Tradition. Our Church and the faith we profess are rooted in this rich understanding that we are spiritually and socially connected to everyone else.This book on the Eucharist and the care of the poor and vulnerable is the first in a series of three on Catholic social teachings. Each instalment offers a view into the wonderful Catholic world that invites us all to build a civilisation of love through our participation as members of the Body of Christ.

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Teach us to pray

This little book, “Teach us to Pray,” is my way of inviting the entire Church to this necessary practice of discipleship. Prayer is not, in the first instance, about techniques. It is about disposition and relationship.

The technique will come if we have the right disposition towards God, and thus, the right relationship with God. With the right disposition – a Christian disposition rooted in the Gospels – a conversation with God is an incredible prayer, as we come to know who we are in Christ Jesus our Lord. Moreover, we get to know our Father and His awesome love that is always present in little and great things.

We recognise that God’s love has been pursuing us long before we ever knew it. Prayer is about this love – from beginning to end. This disposition towards love and the relationship with a loving Father is what Christ taught his disciples. This I want to pass on to you.

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Encounters of Grace

The Camino de Santiago is an ancient pilgrimage–the way of St. James. These reflections are an invitation to pilgrims everywhere. Those who have walked the Camino de Santiago and those who walk the inner Camino every day.

They represent ways that God’s Grace visited every day along the Camino. There are an invitation to reflect on the rich Grace we encounter every day. They are an invitation to become a pilgrim. They are an invitation to live with purpose and depth.

Meditations in the Upper Room

This book of personal reflections are the result of a silent retreat I made at Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA, in July 2019. While sitting one morning in the Dahlgren Chapel on campus, a stained-glass window caught my eye and my religious imagination.

Titled “The Eucharist,” it was a spectacular triptych of the beloved disciple St. John and it led me to a meditation on Mary and her role in forming beloved disciples. It is my hope these meditations in the Upper Room will open for you a new portal through which to encounter Christ.