September marks, for many, a return to their regular routines and responsibilities after a period of vacation. It is an opportunity for a fresh start. The Church too prepares itself for a new liturgical year. Of particular importance to the local Church at this time is its preparation for Synod 2008, a process begun in 2003.

It is important for the local Church, at all levels, to come to terms with the global situation in which it finds itself. This means recognising the pressures that shape it yet the very real opportunities of the present moment.

To come to terms with globalisation means to understand how modern society organises itself and is organised to exclude God and religion from its purview. It means to come to grips with how we are shaped by a culture and values that may be alien to our society and are not life-giving.

It requires an appreciation of the power of the communication revolution that has enveloped us. The Archdiocesan Commission for Communications has attempted to do some of this through its recent “Communicating for Success” programme for parish media teams but the work has to be continued in a variety of ways.

The statistical information that the Archdiocese received most recently through its Lenten Census suggesting that only 17 per cent of Catholics attend weekend Mass, the diminishing number of clergy and religious and the none too hopeful projections for the future as regards personnel need to be seen in the global context.

Last week in one of its feature articles, The Tablet looked at the Church in Australia and referred to a pastoral letter published by Bishop William Morris, in which he predicted that by 2014, in his Queensland Diocese of Toowoomba, territorially the size of Germany (70 times the size of Trinidad and Tobago) only 19 active priests, including the bishop, would be left. “Mostly they would be old men, and they would be expected to spend their lives on the road,” stated the British publication.

Reordering of priorities

Although the Archdiocese of Port of Spain is not unique in its experience, because of the urgency of the task at hand and our particular circumstances, peculiarly Trinidad and Tobago solutions must be found to the issues that confront the local Church. The Archdiocese has therefore come to a remarkable moment in its history. The mission of the Church is at stake.

Archbishop Edward Gilbert’s pastoral letter, Deepening the Spirit of Solidarity in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, published in June this year, and the accompanying Solidarity Policy which sets out a framework for the administration of the Church in these testing times are important aids to examining the Church today and preparing it for tomorrow.

Discussion of the letter and dialogue on the issues raised will assist the Catholic community to arrive at a greater awareness of its true situation and an appreciation of the necessary sacrifices. This process needs to start in our parishes now.

Today’s Gospel reminds us of the hard road that a disciple of Jesus must travel and yet it is a powerful reassurance for the present. To carry one’s cross is to be Jesus’ true friend and disciple. “Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14: 27).

The parables Jesus tells call us all to imitate him who did the Father’s will completely, and so to a reordering of our priorities for the sake of the kingdom of God, as we depend on the “holy spirit from above” (Wisdom 9:17).