This year for Catechetical Month in September we hope to have a son of the Caribbean soil, Bishop Gabriel Malzaire, who will facilitate a weekend seminar on September 12 – 13 at Holy Faith Convent School Auditorium, Couva.

The seminar is titled Caribbean People empowered for Mission and it is based on his doctoral thesis, Eucharist and the Poor.

We extend this invitation to the entire Catholic community of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain.

An excerpt from Bishop Malzaire follows: “Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) viewed his pastoral office as the means to activate the entire Church in order to penetrate the world with the social precepts of the Gospel. In other words, he hoped to help people manifest in their lives the two fundamental principles of Christian living – faith and practice. And in the words of Pope Paul VI himself -: For the poor we must have a special reverence, a particular solicitude.

They are the mirror of Christ, indeed almost his sacrament. They are both the inspiration and the object of our practice of charity. They are our brothers whose needs […] impose on us an obligation. They become an annoyance to us if we flee from them, a joy if we care for them […] They are our companions on our journey.”

Professor Dr Gerald AC Grell from Dominica had this to say: “Bishop Malzaire’s book, Eucharist and the Poor, emphasises the duty of every Christian to care for Christ’s Body on earth, of which the poor and those who suffer injustice are equal members.

His message challenges us to consider what we do when we partake of the sacrifice of the Mass; that it is of little significance without a social dimension.

He stresses that the Eucharist compels every believer to attend to the needs of the weakest in society, on the pattern of the one who is the object of the Eucharist – Jesus Christ. This book is truly an eye opener in challenging our traditional understanding of the Eucharist.”

Copies of Bishop Malzaire’s book are available at the Archdiocesan Catechetical Office, 31 Independence Square, Port of Spain at a cost of TT $200.So block this date off your calendars – September 12 – 13.

Pre -registration will begin at the end of June.

– Archdiocesan Catechetical Office www.catechetics.rcpos.org