“...A GREAT GULF HAS BEEN FIXED...”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the poor man, can be taken as a warning and a challenge. A warning that if we fail to see the poor as needing our concern and our care that we will end up in torment in the place of the dead. It is a warning that if there is a great gulf fixed between us and our other brothers and sisters when we die, nothing or no one can extinguish our torment. Notice that the rich man just did not care about Lazarus. In fact, even in the place of the dead, (Hades), the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers. He cares about his brothers, yes, but he sees Lazarus as a nobody. That was how he saw him when he was alive and now, in Hades, he wants to use him.

The challenge for us today is to do something about the ways we relate to those we encounter daily. The story tells us “There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and feast magnificently every day.” That meant that Lazarus was constantly in the rich man’s space. However, he did not see a brother in sores and in hunger. There was a fixed gulf that only charity could remove.

Please, let’s rise to the challenge and ensure that there is no gulf between us and, especially, the poor.

Fr. Clement Paul.
Parish Priest.

“...IN DEALING WITH THEIR OWN KIND.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Gospel for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time this year, has Jesus making a challenging statement that is relevant to us even here and now. “The children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.”

The parable he tells precedes the challenge because the actual challenge is key to understanding what being Baptized and sent actually entails. As Christians, by virtue of our baptism, we have been made children of light. That means, in a world racked by sin, selfishness and hopelessness, we have been chosen, Baptized and sent to proclaim the Joy of the Gospel. Therefore, we the children of light should be signs and messengers of hope and not of despair. While the story at first glance is rather strange it makes a significant point. When faced with hopelessness, despair makes no sense. Jesus points out and uses the parable to challenge us. When faced with daunting and hopeless problems we don’t despair, we rally on.

Note that the master praised the dishonest steward not for being dishonest but for being resilient. As we face the tremendous social, economic and moral issues today, the temptation is to panic and despair. The challenge is to be astute in dealing with each other precisely because we are “children of light,” baptized and sent.

Are you up to the challenge?

Fr. Clement Paul.
Parish Priest.

REJOICE AND BE GLAD WHEN ONE OF US WHO STRAYED RETURNS TO OUR FATHER’S HOME.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Let us thank God for being the kind of Father He is. A Father who, while giving us our freedom to stay with Him or leave Him, is always ready to receive us when we return. In addition, let’s pray for the grace to remember that we are to look out for and readily rejoice whenever our sisters and brothers who stray, come back to our Father.

Let us remember that we have been baptized and sent to call our sisters and brothers to share in the love that God our Father and their Father has in store for them. Yes, those who have gone to a distant country and squandered the graces that our Father gave them, need to come to their senses and return home. Why? Our Father is a Father who welcomes sinners who come back to Him.

In the Gospel story today, called the Prodigal Son, the elder brother could not rejoice at his brother’s return home. Let’s not be like that. Let’s look out for each other and be glad when those of us who stray, return home.

Fr. Clement Paul.
Parish Priest.

AN OPEN LETTER TO STUDENTS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

Dear Student,

It is that time of the year when you start anew and resume your study routine.

I pray that as you settle down in the new school year, you will place God at the centre of your life.

I pray that as you study, learn and journey, you will always return to the centre. Let that Centre be God.

I offer these CATHOLIC TIPS……C -TIPS:

– Make time every day to be with God.
– In success, praise God and be grateful to anyone who helped you.
– See failure as a challenge to try again.
– Let Jesus be your best friend.

May God bless you for this new academic year.
Amen.

Father Clement Paul
Co-Delegate of His Grace, Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon