To Four New Priest – Embrace The Cross

What a glorious day it was on Saturday the 14th of September 2019, as the Holy Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, witnessed the ordination of four young men to the priesthood. These men were Rev. Stephan ALexander, Rev. Kwesi Alleyne, Rev. Kenwyn Sylvester and Rev. Mikkel Trestrail..

In his sermon, the chief celebrant, Most Reverend Charles Jason Gordon, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, gave a brief history of ordinations over the years. He identified this ordination as the third largest during the years that he reviewed, which started from the early 1940s. Archbishop Gordon said that in the 1980’s, there was such an influx of seminarians into the Seminary, that rooms that were otherwise used for other purposes had to be used instead to house the seminarians.

Archbishop Gordon identified the period from the 1990s to now, as a time of aridness, a time when the Church was going through a desert. He identifies today as the age of the Cross because the Church will either embrace the Cross as the source of Her salvation, or the Church will be dragged to the Cross against her will.

He continued, “this is the age when the cross becomes central to all Christian Life. Over the last decade or more we have experienced the crucifixion of the church in the media and on the world stage. It is at this time that you are being ordained and it is for this age that you are being ordained. You are being ordained as men who will lift the cross of Jesus Christ high, and understand that there is no power for salvation except through the Cross of Christ.”

Most Reverend Charles Jason Gordon lamented that we have raised a generation who do not know, nor understand the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. He further lamented where we have gone through a generation where priests and religious have failed to put the cross of Jesus Christ as central in their preaching and teaching.

He continued, “because we have chosen the easy way out, because we have chosen the soft options, because we have chosen comfort and a privilege and prestige above the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have gone into the wilderness as a church, and it in this wilderness that you are being ordained, and it is for the people traversing this wilderness that you will be ministers of Christ.”

He reminded those to be ordained and in fact all in attendance, that we are a people who are in ‘crucifixion mode’, people in the desert, and that these are in fact exciting times. He added that in these times, the priesthood must be seen in a different light; called to the covenant of love; to love as Christ loves.

“A church of soft options have brought us to the despair that we are in”, said Archbishop Gordon. He added, “without the cross we would not be sanctified. Without the cross we would not be redeemed. Without the cross we could not become the brothers and sisters of Jesus and the brothers and sisters of each other. Without the cross we could not call God ‘Our Father’. Without the cross we could not experience or expect to be in Heaven for eternity with God.” He recounted that the true power of the Church is in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

He reflected on the parallel between the first reading – Numbers 21: 4 -9 – and the response of many Catholics to the Eucharist today. Just as it is recorded in that reading in the Old Testament, where the people complained about eating the same thing over and over again, he lamented that so too do many Catholics complain about the Mass. Many have taken the easy way of entertainment rather than embracing the cross and making the cross of Jesus Christ central to their preaching and teaching. He warned those to be ordained that this must not be the route that they choose since it is not the way of Christ. Rather, he encouraged them to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ, and turn to Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ and “let her do for you, what she did for the first apostles. Let her reconfigure you, and form you into the image of her Son. Let her share the Sacred Mysteries with you, and help you to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in your life, for Mary was the one who first understood it as she was the one who was first overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.”

Archbishop Gordon concluded by entrusting the four to be ordained to the care of Mother Mary, as she fully understood the power of the Cross. He encouraged them to let the cross be their constant companion and their source of meditation.