As a child growing up, what I remembered most about Corpus Christi was that more often than not, it was a very rainy day and for some reason that I never really understood, it was a day when most Trinidadians and Tobagonians would find something to plant - mostly corn and peas.  But now that I am older, I realise that there is so much more to this day; this holiday or maybe I should say this Holy Day.

The Catholic Church’s position on abortion has been consistent throughout its history. The Church believes that life begins at the time of conception and cannot for any reason be interrupted intentionally. The Church does not maintain this position by church fiat but through divine law backed by the 5th Commandment.

We have seen that the Catholic family by virtue of the Sacrament of marriage is a community of life and love and “its role represents the dynamic and existential development of what it is.” F.C. #14. It must become more each day through the interaction and relationship of its members a community of life and love, rooted in Christ and witnessing to the primacy of the Kingdom. This is where the New Evangelization takes root and spreads to the community, the parish, the school, the Church and the wider society. Crucial to the integral development of each family member is a proper catechesis in the faith and pastoral initiatives in the parish that teach, enable, empower, and call forth family members as missionary disciples in the Church’s tradition. Our task as an Archdiocese in the New Evangelization is to help families reclaim their Catholic identity by living out more fully the call of their baptism and by becoming once again the school of life and love for their members.

The Sacrament of Marriage in the Catholic Church is governed by a number of Canons that determine its validity and legality (Canons 1055-1165). Canon 1057 states what a marriage is when it says ‘Matrimonial consent is an act of will by which a man and a woman by an irrevocable covenant mutually give and accept one another for the purpose of establishing a marriage.’ Stated simply but profoundly, the Canon says that they two persons, man and woman (and no other combination of genders) mutually give and accept one another by an act of will which creates an irrevocable covenant. It is important for our understanding to elaborate a little on the three key elements of this Canon and the effect of sin on them. They are: