At the February devotions in honour of La Divina Pastora, Fr Wilfred John, parish priest of Cedros officiated, and the young men of Presentation College , Chaguanas, formed the choir, led the praying of the Rosary and the Prayers of Intercession, and did the Mass readings.

These young men, together with their principal, Simon Rostant and some of their teachers were already at the church at 2.40 p.m. The manner in which the carried out their duties for the day, and the fact that they were so strongly supported by school officials and their families, show that in  Presentation College , Chaguanas, we have a true bastion, a model of Catholic education.

Fr Wilfred preached on the theme: Go and Preach the Word to the Nations . The readings for the day dealt with the Mosaic prescriptions for the handling of leprosy, against the way in which Jesus handled a leper.

While Moses prescribed the complete isolation of anyone even suspected of contracting that dreaded disease - he should be banished from the camp - Jesus' response to leprosy was to touch the infected person and so heal him.

As Fr Wilfred put it, Jesus went “outside of the camp” to cure the leper, and since He had touched him, He, Jesus, now had to remain “outside of the camp”, while the cured leper was back inside. Such is the self-sacrificing love of Jesus.

And this, Father taught us, is what we, as followers of Jesus Christ, must do. We have to step “outside of the camp” into the world of the office, the school, the streets, etc., to meet, teach and baptise the “lepers” of the world, because God wants all people to experience His love. We are to reach out especially to those persons who are on the brink of despair because their life is so hard, and bring God's hope and consolation to them.

In doing this, we can draw from the example of so many priests and religious who left their homelands to come to our country to extend the gift of the Faith to us.

We can also look to the example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta; and to that of the boys of Presentation College , Chaguanas, who, as they go about their studies, bring hope and light to others.

But before we can take it to others, we must first be filled with the hope and grace that comes from God; so our own formation is not to be neglected.

Then we can take these gifts to today's “lepers” - those who have AIDS, unwed pregnant mothers, vagrants, and those who are in any way different from us. Many of these either do not know, or do not believe, that God loves them; so a smile, a pat on the shoulder, a listening ear can go a long way in the process of their “coming into the camp” and being healed. This cannot be achieved if we isolate ourselves from them, or vice versa.

Father closed his homily with a prayer that we all become usable vessels in God's service - His Hands, His Eyes, His Voice.

At the close of Mass Father asked members of the congregation to stand when the name of their community was called. We discovered that there were faithful from 17 parishes present, some having come from as far away as Diego Martin, Arima, Rosary in Port of Spain, and Carenage, and those from as close as South Oropouche and Morne Diable.

As we begin the Holy Season of Lent, we extend a renewed invitation to all to come to La Divina Pastora on the second Sunday of March (12) and of April (9) and of course on the feast day in May, and join us as we pray.

A very special “Thank You” to Fr Wilfred and the staff and students of Presentation College , Chaguanas for the great inspiration you have been to us.