MY TESTIMONY TO THE
WORD
Fr. Mervyn Carapiet
I have learned to live with pain. I
have also leaned that it’s no use trying to please people; I only serve them as
Jesus would. Basically that means breaking the Word to them even if it is often
very challenging and displeasing to certain people, especially priests. My
talents lie in my knowledge of the Word and my communication skills that have
been praised wherever and whenever I have broken God’s Word to the people.
Apart from this God has given me the talent to sing and write books and
articles even up to the old age that I have attained. Old age in itself is a
great gift when I consider the vast numbers of fellow humans who have died in
their prime. How could God allow me to live this long if it were not to use his
gifts for others, gifts that I have described here. With the short span left to
me it would be sinful not to exercise them while I am still alive.
Canon 545/2 states: “An assistant
priest may be appointed either to help in exercising the entire pastoral
ministry, whether in the whole parish or in a part of it or for a particular
group of the faithful with in, or even to help in carrying out a specific
ministry in a number of parishes at the same time.”
The spirit behind this canon is
encouraging and applies to me. People should espouse the spirit of this canon
and encourage me to use my talents of preaching the Word, affording me the
opportunity wherever available. I am retired, yet more than retired. I am an
assistant pastor, yet more than that. My gifts urge me to go forward beyond the
limits of any one parish. God-given talents transcend parochial boundaries. Jesus
said, “I have other sheep too that must listen to my voice.” The “other sheep”
are eager to hear me. They have told me so and are envious of those who hear me
on a regular basis. Why bind me down to local limits, to standing beside the
main celebrant like a glorified altar boy, to singing some lines that could be
done by a lay person or simply recited, to distributing Holy Communion that
could be done Eucharistic ministers, when I can devote myself to more
substantial actions like celebrating the Eucharist and preaching the Word?
Within the brief time left to me I
am constrained to be baptised with a baptism that will mark the ending:
preaching the Word...with my dying lips.
Rules and formalities do not matter
to me anymore. It is not that I break the rules and regulations but that I go
beyond them to fulfil their meaning and spirit. Regulations and rules are but
illustrations and channels of our intimacy with God which is precisely what I
intend by my preaching the Word.
John’s gospel sums it up well, “Night
is coming when no man can work.” So let me work the Word while there is still
light that for me is fast fading. Evensong is sounding its way to Compline.
PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST
Every
priest has one day off each week. He can go for a round of golf, visit friends
and stay with his relatives, go to his club and have a few drinks with his
fellow club members. In short, a priest can do what he enjoys most on his day
off. Where I am concerned, my day off is Sunday, and my most enjoyable activity
is celebrating the Eucharist and preaching the Word. After fulfilling my
pastoral duty of hearing confessions and celebrating the holy sacrifice of the
Mass, I still have a lot of time-space on Saturday-Sunday to enjoy my favourite
activity in any other church that gives me the opportunity, knowing full well
that people enjoy my liturgy and preaching.
Of all the activities possible to man, and
that he is capable of, the most sublime and beneficial is the celebration of
the Eucharist, which is exactly what I enjoy doing. My enjoyment produces
goodness and wholesomeness in the world. So I do only the very best that is the
Eucharist. I cannot think of a better way of spending my time.
Give me the chance and I’ll give you the
Mass.
Fr.
Mervyn Carapiet,
8th.
May 2010
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