The parish of the Sacred Heart, which includes Delaford, Roxborough, Goodwood, Speyside, as well as Belle Garden and Louis D’or held its Lenten outdoor crusade from Monday, February 26 to Friday, March 2 at the grounds of the Delaford Community Centre nightly.

The speaker for the five nights was dynamic Fr Trevor Nathasingh and his vibrant and spirit-filled team of nine members of his Point Fortin parish. They were tremendous.

The opening night he spoke n the theme To Walk by Faith and not by Fear. He said we must be lights; we must walk by faith and be bearers of the truth. We need to reclaim fearlessly in the name of Jesus the territory God has given to us – the community, the streets, our neighbourhood and our nation.

 It is faith in Jesus that can guarantee us eternity. We must remain attached by faith for God has called us to be a people of faith; it is impossible to please God without faith. We must strive for God, our hearts must long for God and we must take time to please God by faith.

The second night the theme was The Word of God. Fr Nathasingh said we must allow the Word of God to transform us and that we must depend on the promises of the Word of God as it is a life transforming Word; Jesus is the living Word and the Word never returns empty – “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105). Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is alive and active. Father ended by quoting Deut 11:18-32 which advises that we must let the word remain in our hearts and souls.

The Need to Repent was the theme for the third night. Fr Nathasingh shared with us that we need to be constantly a repentant people, that our faith must transform our culture and that we must exercise self-control so as not to sin.

Night four we were reminded of The Pearl of Great Price, Jesus Christ himself (Mt 13:44-45). Father encouraged us to risk everything, to sell all we have to buy what is of the highest value – the kingdom of God.

We need to have a relationship with God by spending time in prayer, y taking time to be in His presence, to linger in the presence of God. The conditions of following Christ were 1) renunciation of self, 2) taking up one’s cross and 3) following Him.

The crusade ended with Mass on the final night and Fr Trevor shared with us on The Power of the Holy Spirit. He reminded us of the commissioning and empowering of the faithful as found in the Acts of the Apostles, to go out and live the Good News, to live Gospel values, to live the quality of life as believers, to witness as followers of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The power of the Holy Spirit enables us to be mighty warriors, to say no and to live righteous lives. As he ended he said that belonging to the Church is belonging to the spiritual family of God and that we come to Church to celebrate faith, faith in Christ Jesus.

We were encouraged to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to live righteous lives.
In evaluating the crusade some expressed sorrow that it was not longer. The crusade was felt to be a blessing that brought confidence in our faith. It was an eye-opener for some, shedding light on shady areas.

To Fr Trevor Nathasingh and his vibrant team who sang their hearts out and taught us many songs, we say thank you very much for a spirit-filled and tremendous week. May God continue to bless you and use you.