Fr Matthew d'Hereaux presently studying in Rome

On April 24, 2005 Pope Benedict XVI in the inaugural homily of his pontificate explained the symbolism of the pallium worn around the neck by metropolitan archbishops as well as the Pontiff of Rome.

He reminded his listeners that the pallium made of lamb’s wool is “meant to represent the lost, sick or weak sheep which the shepherd places on his shoulders and carries to the waters of life.”

He went further saying, “the symbol of the lamb also has a deeper meaning.” Kings in the ancient past used to refer to their people as lambs that they can dispose of at will.

This was an image of their power over others. Benedict continued, “When the shepherd of all humanity, the living God himself became a lamb, he stood at the side of the lambs.”

He then concluded,“It is not power but love that redeems us. This is God’s sign: he himself is love. How often we wish that God would show himself stronger, that he would strike decisively, defeating evil creating a better world.

All ideologies of power justify themselves exactly in this way; they justify the destruction of whatsoever would stand in the way of progress and the liberation of humanity. We suffer on account of God’s patience.

And yet, we need his patience. God who became lamb, tells us that the world is saved by the Crucified One, not by those who crucified him. The world is being redeemed by the patience of God. It is destroyed by the impatience of human beings.”

So applicable to our nation and region, these words will carry me through Lent and beyond, and as you would see below, confirm my thinking on the archdiocese’s ministry to “sweet-n-sour” T & T.

They would inform my thoughts, inspire my prayer and shape my nascent theology. But who is the “me” that shall be undoubtedly influenced by excerpts of Benedict’s inaugural homily quoted above?

Over the past seven months I think I have become a hybrid of a masochistic, patriot and priest who would go on-line to quickly browse Newsday, Express and Guardian thereby leaving cyberspace more anxious or worried than when I first logged on.

I am painfully made aware that I may return to T&T and nothing would have changed or rather, things might have got worse with regard to crime, poverty and marginalisation. Even when I read the Catholic News there is a measure of hope, but not enough to say the local Church is making a real difference.

This “me” is really a big-picture thinker who is driven by a Christology and ecclesiology that is oriented towards taking the side of the little, last, lost and the least. Hence, a nagging issue for me throughout my seminary life and my first five years of priesthood concerns finding ways of creating a fairer society in which the poor do not suffering unjustly and are in fact counted and considered in the decision-making process.

This reflection has left me impatient, worried and anxious for the future of a country where the rich are getting richer, the middle class is becoming poor and the poor are getting poorer. This has left me concerned that volunteerism and service is on the way out.

The multi-faceted reasons for blindness and indifference to lawlessness, including fear for personal safety, makes me wonder where we are heading.

It makes me tremble at the thought of the growing irrelevance of the Church for the urban poor who want a shoulder to lean on but cannot reach it because the Church appears too tall for the small man!

Stumbling upon the deep reflection of Pope Benedict XVI, his reflections should engage my human impatience, anxiety and worry in fruitful dialogue. His words have challenged me to stop looking for “quick-fix” solutions.

When I read the papers, hear the cries of people, listen to myself and other priests it is like we could “fix this thing” now!  In this way we speak the same language of the angry young man who says, “Ah go fix dat fuh yuh.”

Then, he goes homes and gets a gun...the rest is a statistical history. “Ah go fix dat” is a common utterance in prison and on the “block”. Short-term and quick, but destructive! Hang dem high – quick fix, but destructive! Sterilise dem, quick fix, but destructive! Abort dem - quick fix, but destructive! Right-wing leadership or Left-wing leadership - quick fix, but destructive!

On the other hand, the “not so quick” comprise the painful self-introspection and honesty at every level of our being that begs the question: Am I ready to die or give my life for that which is bigger than me? In Christian terms - Am I ready to ascend the cross with Christ for the common good?

It may mean becoming a “lamb” to use Benedict’s image, by walking with others in their pain and quiet desperation after a kidnapping, rape and robbery. It may mean walking with a young man or woman who feels absolutely hopeless and helpless. It is members of society taking active responsibility for each other.

Or again, it may involve an entire projet de vie – a life’s project through committed volunteerism and Christian mission. In the Church it could mean a new wave of volunteerism, service and a deeper sense of the call to mission for the long-haul.

It could mean a secondary law career for and behalf of a lobby for Human Rights. It may well mean using skills in banking and finance to set up co-operatives for marginal men on the East-West corridor or for farmers in central, south and Tobago.

It should mean getting to the neck of human trafficking as well as clamouring for the establishment of humane “Detention Centres” for men and women who enter the country illegally. The State Prison system is no place for dirt-poor men and women bought and sold by human traffickers.

To do these and so many others needed for patient redemption of our present circumstances requires proverbial blood, sweat and tears. In socio-economic terms, it is a decision to forego the lure of social and occupational mobility in a $40 billion economy.

In simple terms, it is to stay with people and with things. It is the cross. It is ascending the cross for the sake of life and the lives of others. In fact it is Eucharistic living. That is, it is being eaten up: one’s time and energy.

It is about sharing and giving, it is about offering and sacrificing. To do this one has to be patient. As a child, my mother always told me, “The impatient man hurts himself.”

Hence we are hurting ourselves as a Church and a people if we think our knot of problems can be solved overnight by legislation or budgetary allocations. The “quick-fix” thinking throws us into the spiral of hopelessness and cynicism about every effort, every person and institution.

Pope Benedict is really calling us to be Church again: the People of God in patient service with and for others. Ultimately, this is a powerful service.

In the light of Benedict’s reflection on patient redemption we could ask: What does it mean to be Church in T&T? What does it mean to be Catholic in T&T today?