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Last week we looked at the qualities needed to be a catechist. This week we will address how the second Pastoral Priority impacts on the work of faith formation and how each of us has a part to play in Revitalising Catholic Culture and Identity.

For most people, the mention of the word ‘faith’ conjures up a feeling of me-and-God relationship. Revitalising Catholic Culture and Identity – My Church, My Parish, My Family reminds us that our Catholic identity is not lived in isolation but in community where it matures as we participate in the life of the community and Church.

Our baptism in Christ, challenges us to profess in our daily lives the faith we profess. That means, sharing in the messiness of this world, not as onlookers but as participants in the bowels of life. If we are to be true to our calling we will find ourselves in places where we will not willingly choose to go. We will profess the truth of our faith by our very lives.

Revitalising Catholic Culture and Identity does not call us to go back to former times, ‘the good ole days’, but to bring the Christian values we once lived so easily, alive in our lives. For a start, simple gestures as acknowledging one another with a greeting; treating all people with respect, especially the elderly; instilling basic human values in our young ones; showing courtesy on our roads; allowing our hearts to be moved by the sight of vagrants in our city – acknowledging them rather than closing our eyes to their existence – and assisting the most marginalised in our midst, will stir us to be more Christ-like to all peoples.

Revitalising Catholic Culture and Identity begins with me. I can change no one but myself. If I yearn for a better country; a better Church; a better society then I have to play my part in helping this change to come about. If I am to live my faith, I have to own my faith and I have to nurture my faith.

The booklet that was published as a guide for this second Pastoral Priority is now available at a cost of TT$10.00 at the following places: