Article from The ANGELICUM – Global Impact edition (Winter 2024)

 

 

I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago in a practicing Catholic family. However, I lapsed from the faith for about seven years. Not long after my graduation from York University with a degree in Global Economics and Organizational Analysis, I experienced a reversion to the faith. I thought to myself, ‘If the Lord Jesus is real, then what else can I do but serve the Lord and preach His Gospel?’ This led me to the Dominicans, where I saw a life that was conducive to intimacy with the Lord in study and prayer, a radical life that I could share with brothers, all in view of preaching for the salvation of souls. I entered the Irish Province of the Dominicans in 2012 and was ordained August 17, 2019.  I studied at the Dominican Studium in Dublin, Ireland, an affiliate of the Angelicum. There was a sense of being connected to the Order’s great intellectual tradition by having contact with the Angelicum. It was there that I received a solid foundation, being introduced to the great truths of our faith as understood by St. Thomas.  

 

This winter, I completed a license in Dogmatic and Fundamental Theology. My thesis focused on the way our Eucharistic Lord enlightens the mind and heart with his divine wisdom, which in turn perfects our love for him. For me, being at the Angelicum has been a ‘feast of light’. I consider it one of the great graces of my life to have been led by theological masters in thinking out the word of God in the great stream of the Church’s tradition, with St. Thomas as its bulwark. I am also greatly indebted to the great community of students who helped stimulate my own thoughts through numerous discussions and debates. Many have become dear friends. One of the many fruits of my studies at the Angelicum has been a greater desire to see God and preach the mystery of Christ. Theology ought to lead us to prayerful contact with the living God which in turn ought to drive us to bring others to this contact. I encountered professors at the Angelicum who did just this; they do theology on their knees. 

 

Now I have returned to my country and will most likely begin a mission for the Archdiocese in promoting Eucharistic Adoration and prayer, and also faith formation. My Dominican formation in my province and at the Angelicum has helped me grasp the big picture of our faith, the great network of truths revealed by Christ. People need to be taught this coherence of faith because many live with a very atomised and fragmented understanding of the faith. The strength of the Angelicum, therefore, is the sapiential approach to theology: the contemplation of the connection between all the truths of the faith and the way they mutually illuminate each other. In a nutshell, the Angelicum has trained me to bring divine wisdom to God’s people, to preach and teach Jesus Christ.

 

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