Archbishop: Help the most vulnerable in the Body of Christ

ARCHBISHOP Jason Gordon has urged Catholics to help the most vulnerable in the Body of Christ.

He made the call as he delivered the homily at the 235th Anniversary Corpus Christi Celebration 2019 held at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

Gordon said Corpus Christi refers not only to the Eucharist but Catholics as the Body of Christ.

"Just as a body has many parts we too are parts of this one body. And the eye can't say to the head 'I don't like you' and the foot can't say to the brain 'leave me alone.' Because we are so integrally connected with each other that we, though many, form one body. And we are rooted in the one that is Jesus Christ."

He said from the single seed of Jesus dying on the cross "we have become a mighty body spread throughout the world."

He continued: "And it may seem as if the winds, the gales, the storms, the floods will consume this tree. It may seem as if we are in a difficult time. It may seem as if the church has no say in these times but what you see above the ground is different from what is happening underneath the ground. No matter what power comes against the Body of Christ, no matter what force would come whaling against it, no matter what enmity or trouble or disaster we will face the Body of Christ will always spring up again because Christ will always prevail."

He stressed as the Body of Christ "you and I are connected to each other" and you therefore cannot "cut your nose to spite your face."

He added: "If we are connected to each other brothers and sisters then we have to learn how to care for each other the same way you have to learn to care for your own body. We have to learn to love each other the same we way we learn to love our own body. We have to learn that there are parts of the Body that are vulnerable and...that are in deep need (and)...that are in hungry (and)...are being discriminated against and we have to come to the aid of the parts of the Body that are most vulnerable and are most in need. And that's what it means to be the Body of Christ."

He said the Eucharist is food for our soul, body, mind and the "whole of who we are."

"The Eucharist is food for the journey to help us make our way to God."

During the prayer before the Eucharist three of the prayers were in Spanish and one of the prayers was for Venezuela and the migrant issue.

After the service a procession led by "Flag man" Hubert Peter Diaz and the Fatima Sea Scouts made its way from the Queen's Park Savannah, down Charlotte Street, across Park Street and down Frederick Street en route to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The event lacked the perennial Corpus Christi rain but attendees used their umbrellas for the scorching sun. Some attendees knelt on the street during the prayers. La Horquetta/Talparo MP Maxie Cuffie was among the hundreds that packed the Grand Stand in the Savannah and marched in the procession.