On Sunday, February 11, the fourth in the 2006-07 series of devotions in honour of Our Lady, La Divina Pastora was held. This time, we took the image of our Queen in motorcade to the community of Quarry Village.

 There, a brief account of the contributions made by Fr Kieron Lennon, (parish priest 1951-60) and Fr Eugene Delahunt (parish priest 1960-70) was given, and a decade of the rosary prayed.

On return to the church, the devotions began with the praying of the rosary and the Novena to La Divina Pastora. The young people of the parish, in particular those who were confirmed in 2005 and 2006, together with those to be confirmed later this year, formed the choir, led the praying of the rosary, and also did the readings and the Prayers of the Faithful at Mass.

Fr Guiseppi of Carenage parish was the celebrant, and in his homily focussed on the gospel of the day - the Beatitudes. He drew our attention not only to the “Blessed are you ......”, but also to the “Woe to you......” occasions.

What it really came down to was that when we keep God at the forefront of our lives, we experience peace; when we remove God from our lives, the result is trouble and sadness. Trinidad and Tobago once had a reputation of being a Godly nation, but not anymore, and the result is rampant crime and the resultant dissatisfaction. Our sense of safety has disappeared. Reliance on money or any material thing leads only to nothingness.

When we look at the life of Our Lady, we see her putting her total trust in God. At the Annunciation we see this trust when she says:
“Be it done unto me according to thy word.”

And, at the foot of the Cross, not knowing what would happen after her Son's death, she remains steadfast, trusting totally in God. Mary is, and always has been, the Church's model of complete faith and trust in the Lord.

James, in his epistle, reminds us that everything we have comes from the good God, and we must ask Him for the faith and trust to depend completely on Him.

Thank you, Fr Guiseppi, for celebrating Mass for us, and for giving us such wonderful teaching, in spite of all your difficulties on that day. Thanks go out too, to the young people of the parish who assisted so well in making the devotions holy and prayerful.

The next devotions take place today, March 11, when the motorcade will proceed through the streets of Siparia. You are most welcome to join us. You are specially invited, too, to attend our Panel Discussion on the topic; La Divina Pastora, Mother of All Peoples, on Thursday, March 15, at La Divina Pastora Church, Siparia, at 6.00 p.m.

There will be no monthly devotion next month since the feast day of La Divina Pastora is on April 29. We look forward to hosting you in your usual large numbers, as we celebrate 250 years of Catholic presence in Siparia.

You are also invited to submit names of persons who have served the Church in the parish of La Divina Pastora, Siparia. Two trees have been placed in the sanctuary, and the names of these people, written on small cards - white for those who have died, and yellow for those still with us - are being placed on them. Masses will be celebrated for all these people.