Saint Lucia
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May 2004 47th Year No.5 Internet Edition Page 2 Click below for Page 1 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Home |
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Editorial On the Boundary Between Yesterday and Tomorrow Lent is gone. The Easter Triduum has passed. Liturgically we stride that “in between” space of forty days before the Ascension. In life as in ritual, there are those “in between” moments. Liminal moments or experiences they call them in the social sciences. The ‘has been' and ‘the not-yet'. Alan Lewis writes beautifully about them in Between Cross & Resurrection : A Theology of Holy Saturday . Of Holy Week he says “…the Christian family takes time once a year to replay the events at their original speed…Through a few hours of worship and many of ordinary life, they relive annually the growing tensions of the climactic week; the grieving farewells, shameful betrayal, guilty denial, and agonizing fear of the night before the end; the long, dark, deadly day of pain and forsakenness itself; an ecstatic daybreak of miracle and color, song and newborn life…” For most persons, perhaps these are the moments we now savour. This is the season. After all, it is Easter, the “ecstatic daybreak of miracle and color!” However, some of us still linger in the “in-between.” Is it that two servings of Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ” have charred the raw nerve? I had to turn to Douglas J. Hall's God & Human Suffering . For each morning fresh bloodstains splash across our TV screens. Now Madrid, now Fallujah, Karbala, Najaf. Latterly Abu Ghraib. It is like the “one eerie, restless day of burial and waiting…perhaps for nothing” that Lewis writes “which forces us to speak of hell and to conceive how it might be that God's own Son, and therefore God's own self, lay dead and cold within a sepulcher.” As the Church rejoices that “death has lost it's sting,” the two young murderers of Sr. Theresa Egan SJC and Fr. Charles Gaillard appear before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court to plead insanity, through their lawyers. Their demeanour continues to mock the justice system. Seemingly, without a care in the world, they laugh and tease each other as their attorneys plead for a reversal of the death sentence. The justices reserve their judgment. Once again it seems so clear that resurrection is only a hope even for those with very deep faith. For those without faith, it is foolishness. And even hope and faith are “in-between” things, straddling the blessings received yesterday and the promises of tomorrow. How do we get the young to hope when all around things fall apart? The myth of self-preservation perpetuates the cult of anger, rage, revenge and violence. It is the culture of death, escape from whose grip comes only through excess; music, drugs, alcohol, sex. What freedom from this cycle of destruction? Such is the challenge of this season. The Lord of the universe is truly risen indeed ! But how can we raise a world which seems dead and cold within a sepulcher? How can we nurture hope and faith in those who journey from their yesterdays to tomorrow? Seder / Passover Experience The Paschal meal celebration at the Pastoral Centre on April 5th, 2004. it was indeed a special personal experience of reflection, recollection and spiritual upliftment for me. In fact; it initiated in me a deeper appreciation of the Jewish Passover and brought into proper perspective, in a real life situation, the nexus that exist between the old Law (i.e. Old Testament) and the New Law (i.e. the New Testament) and the establishment of the" "Eucharistic " as the everlasting means of total thanksgiving, service and reconciliation. The first part of the Paschal meal re-enacted and embraced the Candelabra -lighting of the seven candles, blessings, special prayers and songs, within the Jewish custom, recalling ‘the flight of the Jews' from Egypt. This reality was manifested by the small dish served to all consisting of bitter herbs, unleavened bread, and a small cup containing salt water reminiscent of the Passover and the tears shared during the flight from Egypt. In addition, the promise requested from the Jewish Nation by God Himself "That all generations from hence -forth be reminded of this Deliverance" was pointedly expressed by two children asking pertinent questions of the events as they read relevant biblical passages. This brought to mind the deeper meaning of the Jewish Passover and the relevance of this promise to the lives of the Jewish Nation as they remind themselves of the story of their deliverance from year to year and from generation to generation. . The second part of the Passover Meal emphasized the reality of the New Law established by our Lord Jesus Christ. There, the wine, unleavened bread and the main meal The Pasch (i.e. roasted lamb), together with tables of twelve persons (i.e. representative of the twelve apostles) encompassed the reality of the Passage of the Lord in Egypt during the Deliverance and the Lord's Last Supper with his apostles, when he instituted on Holy Thursday the "Eucharistic" as the perfect sacrifice and the everlasting means of total thanksgiving, reconciliation and service. The washing of the feet involving all participants focused to my understanding the need for humility and service to one another within the Eucharistic Christ. Meanwhile; the main supper, The Pasch (i.e. The roasted lamb) brought in reflections of Christ as the Sacrificial Lamb who died on the Cross for the salvation of all men. Thus; the institution of the Eucharist and the death of the Sacrificial Lamb unifies the ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and the daily remembrance and recognition of the real Christ in the Eucharist. In essence; the Passover Supper brought into reality the Old Law which stipulated the atonement of sins by actively sacrificing various animals -mainly goats and sheep and the New Law established by Christ which focuses on Unleavened bread and wine, which then undergoes "trans-substantiation", by the power of the holy Spirit through the priest during consecration at mass, into the real body and Blood of Christ. This was a "first" for the management of the Pastoral Centre and the whole team needs to be applauded for a job well done. Nevertheless; there are lessons to be learnt. Hopefully, next year, one anticipates more participants and an even greater effort by the organizers to elevate the standard. The following are some suggestions which hopefully will enhance and elevate the experience:- (I) There should be more singing of Psalms and/or familiar songs for total participation by all: (2) During the meal/supper selective biblical readings/passages should be read to assimilate the solemnity and spiritual aspects of the meal. Besides; these readings would reduce the "noise level" associated with persons interacting with one another and allow little more' quiet atmosphere" to savor the moment. (3) During the Paschal Supper, the :lighting: could be reduced at the venue to introduce a candle -light" setting -That is, each table can be given a candle which can be illuminated during the meal. This would further enhance the solemnity of the moment. (4) Perhaps if properly advertised more persons can participate to experience a personal spiritual awakening. Hence; a large venue can be source and better economic returns realised. Click below for Seder and The Eucharist On the Monday of Holy Week this past lent 2004, we all gathered at the Pastoral Centre at Marisule, Gros Islet to eat the SEDAR meal. It was an attempt to celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover as it might have been celebrated at the time of Christ. It was an attempt to bring us all back to the Last Supper in the upper room with Jesus and the Apostles that faithful day, that Holy Thursday on the eve of his agony and death when he ate this final supper with his apostles, when he instituted the Eucharist, the Priesthood and the New Covenant in his blood. But what is the SEDAR meal? Well, it's the Passover meal. It's the meal that the Jews eat on the day of Passover, when they remember their exodus from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians through Moses their deliverer. This was what we gathered at the Pastoral Centre's dining area, all seventy two or thereabouts, set out into six tables of twelve and a head table where the Archbishop playing the part of the head of the household, Mrs. Marlene Anthony playing the part of , the Mother and Fr. Anthony playing master of ceremonies, sat and took charge of the proceedings. The Sedar meal is divided into many parts and altogether, four (4) cups of wine are drank preceded and followed by prayers said by the leaders and all present. Each person has a plate containing Matso (unleavened bread), horseradish or other bitter herb, haroses and some green herb like parsley set over a bowl containing salt water. The meal follows a definite pattern and the bitter herbs, cups of wine, matso, etc are eaten at precise moments during the meal. The prayers are also set and are said at precise moments too. There is a point in the meal when the children and all present ask questions of the head of the household which he promptly answers. They ask about the fact that this night is different, pash, matso, moror (bitter herbs). Because there are four cups of wine to be drunk during the meal, each table was furnished with a goblet for pouring wine and we elected a person from each table to be the wine server. All the wine was blessed at the head table and each wine server went to get the wine for his/her table and served it. We did the same for the meal. Each table elected a meal server who went to get the fIrst cuts from the cooked paschal lamb and served his/her table. The Archbishop blessed the lamb and did the symbolic carving of it.After the meal, the person selected from each table to do the foot washing, washed the feet of each member of his table with water and towels provided. A better understanding of The Eucharist by Diane Jharriah It would seem that there isn’t much to say about the Passover meal. This story has been told for centuries and we have heard it ourselves year after year. But there are some stories that just need to be told and retold as a way of keeping memories alive. As Walter Brueggeman writes, they create ‘a community rooted in energizing memories and summoned by radical hopes’ The Passover was one of those extraordinary events set apart from the rest of life and this is a story we continue to tell to keep the memory of this great event alive. Catholic Teachers meet in Mon Repos
Just over one hundred catholic teachers met at Mon Repos on the fourteenth of April for a conference under the theme “Fresh insights on a solid foundation”. The conference in the first to be held in the last five years and is a revival of the annual Catholic Teachers Conference usually held on the feast of St. John Baptiste de La Salles the patron saint of teachers. The major aim of the conference was the revitalization of the Catholic Teachers Association. The day began with a Mass celebrated by His Grace Archbishop Kelvin Felix. Meditation took the form of a liturgical dance to the Hymn “Ave Maria” by members of the Mon Repos Holy Childhood Association. During the celebration of the Eucharist the teachers participated in a short commitment service dedicating themselves to their role as Catholic Teachers. Towards the end of the Eucharistic celebration teachers and principals who recently retired were given plaques of appreciation for their contribution to Catholic Education. The teachers honored were Mrs. Hermina St. Hill, Miss Royce Stanislas, Ms Mary Daniel, Mrs. Marie Daniel, Mrs. Octavia Marius, Mrs. Grace Alphonse, Mrs. Felister Tertullien, Mrs. Eusebia Jn Baptiste, and Mr. William Raphael. Mrs. Julia Hennecart was given the first Life Time Achievement award. After a sumptuous lunch prepared by the support staff of the Mon Repos R. C. Combined School, the Working session began with a period of praise and worship. First there were two presentations, one by Mrs. Rita Henry on the history and status of the local Catholic Teachers Association, and the other by Mr. Robert Harvey who gave a regional perspective of the association. The participants then broke up into working groups to examine their role as Catholic teachers, the challenges they face in fulfilling their role and to make suggestions as to how they could best be assisted in effectively executing their functions. After groups presented their reports, in a session entitled “The Way Forward”, the teachers made firm recommendations on how the association could be revived. The recommendations included the formation of a steering committee, and the identification of a contact person in each catholic school. The recommendations were accepted by all presented. The following persons were elected to serve on the steering committee: Mrs. Veronica Magloire (Ave Maria Primary School), Mrs. Brenda Virgille (Ciceron Combined School), Mrs. Lucy Nicholas (retired teacher, Choiseul), Miss Rosella Emile (St. Mary's College) and Mr. Gilbert Dolcy (Micoud Secondary School). The teachers departed for their respective districts at four thirty after an enjoyable and productive day. Mrs Julia Hennecart receives
In 1963, Julia accepted a job to teach at the Belvedere Infant School in Vieux Fort (with the Catholic Nuns) where she taught for four years. In the summer of 1967 Julia and Clement migrated to Canada but following medical advice, the couple returned to St. Lucia in August 1968. Julia wasted no time in getting reinstated in her teaching job in Vieux-Fort. In 1972, her family relocated to Castries. Julia received a transfer to the Ave Maria Infant School where she taught 5 and 6 year olds and offered after-school remedial classes the little ones who needed extra care and attention. During the summer vacations between 1976 and 1980 she attended the Reading Course, to develop her skills to teach infants. In addition, between 1976 and 1980, she worked with Curriculum and Materials Development Unit (CAMDU) where she co-authored the Language Arts Reading and Workbooks for Infant education. In 1983 Julia was appointed principal of the Ave Maria Infant School. In her capacity as principal, she got involved with the Adult Literacy Programme. From its inception, in the mid 80's she worked alongside Dr. Didicas Jules, Ms. Claudia Francis and Mr. Egbert Lionel at various centers around the island facilitating persons preparing to teach in the Adult literacy program. Julia eventually assisted with the development and establishment of the curriculum for Adult Education. Between the summers of 1985 and 1988 she served as facilitator at the Organization for Co-operation for Overseas Development (OCOD) workshop for the design and production of classroom teaching aids. Julia retired from public service in July 1992 after a 42-year long and successful teaching career. In 1998 she accepted a part-time teaching job with the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority as the after-school programme coordinator. Today, Julia's love for teaching continues long after her retirement, as presently she is a catechist in the parish of St. Benedict. As a Eucharistic minister, she visits and ministers to the sick and shut-ins in the community. Julia continues to serve as a member of the St. Benedict Parish Council, a member of the Mount Carmel and the Sacred Heart Confraternities, the Club 60 and the Cursio Movement. Julia's caring, warmth and pleasant nature has always been her strongest attributes. She has never waned in her desire to reach out to anyone in need and although today, her classroom teaching is over, her tenth grandchild is now privileged to be her most recent pupil.
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