“What is most terrifying in the experience of the deportation of Africans to the Americas * is undoubtedly the unknown, faced without preparation or challenge” (Édouard Glissant, “The Open Boat,” Poetics of Relation) I prepare to “sail” across the Atlantic,travelling in the opposite directionfrom the one forced upon my African ancestors,returning freely over waters they crossed inContinue reading “Preparing to Sail”
Tag Archives: faith
God Clothed Me Again
I came ashore wearing dirty clothes of exhaustion,still carrying the salt and struggle of the deep ocean.I had fallen from the high horse of ministryand no longer felt fully present to myself.The retreat grounds seemed to know my conditionpatches of brown grass, uprooted trees, fallen dry coconuts,and a dry, crooked branch lying before the altar.“CanContinue reading “God Clothed Me Again”
The Gardener Has Not Left the Garden
A Reflection on My Thirty-Fourth Priestly Anniversary – June 28, 2026 On the morning of my thirty-fourth anniversary of priestly ordination, I intended to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Instead, the Spirit gently drew me elsewhere. Rather than entering the chapel, I found myself sitting quietly in my garden, beside the grassy car park, sensingContinue reading “The Gardener Has Not Left the Garden”
A Bridge Over Troubled Waters
The life and ministry of Sr. Monique Monquette can perhaps best be understood through two timeless songs: “Many Rivers to Cross” by Jimmy Cliff and “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel. Both songs speak about struggle, transition, uncertainty, and the grace of finding someone who walks with us through difficult seasons of life.Continue reading “A Bridge Over Troubled Waters”
Finding Humility in the Vastness of Creation
The chapel occupies only a small space within my home. My home, in turn, occupies only a small corner of the city. The city rests within the country. The country finds its place within the Caribbean basin. The Caribbean belongs to the Western Hemisphere. The hemisphere is but a portion of the Earth. Earth circlesContinue reading “Finding Humility in the Vastness of Creation”
The Divine Drama of Salvation
The divine drama of salvation unfolds most profoundly in the liturgies of Holy Week.Here, God in Jesus Christ steps onto the stage of human history,entering fully into its mess, its brokenness, its suffering,not to avoid it, but to redeem it. Palm Sunday serves as the curtain-raiser.It introduces the protagonist, Jesus, yet leaves us with aContinue reading “The Divine Drama of Salvation”
Beyond the Reef
Vulnerability,Brené Brown says it’s uncertainty, risk, emotional exposure—but it feels to me like standing barefootat the edge of the sea,where the sand still remembers my nameand the water does not.Lately, the tides have changed.What once felt like a gentle shorelinenow asks me to swim—past the protective reef,past what is familiar,into waters that are deep, dark,andContinue reading “Beyond the Reef”
The Marriage of Christmas and Emmaus
Christmas is God’s greatest surprise:God steps onto the dusty and rugged road of our human journey.No longer distant—no longer mediated only by fire, cloud, angel, or law—God walks with us now in flesh and vulnerability,as companion, as Child, as Presence.For this mystery, the heavens themselves cannot remain silent:Gloria in excelsis Deo.And yet, so often, weContinue reading “The Marriage of Christmas and Emmaus”
I Am
I am—born and grown under the bright Caribbean sun,cradled in the warm, salt-sweet womb of the Caribbean Sea.Before my ancestors dreamed of freedom,God was already stirring the waters,brooding over chaos, whispering life into broken beginnings.The waves sang my lullaby before I knew my name,and the trade winds carried the stories of those who came beforeContinue reading “I Am”
Breadfruit and hope after the storm
THE EDITOR, Madam: In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, our beloved Jamaica mourns. The wind’s roar has subsided, but in its silence, the cries of families who have lost their homes, livelihoods, and, heartbreakingly, loved ones still echo. Roofs lie scattered like memories; rivers continue to flow through living rooms; children sleep where walls onceContinue reading “Breadfruit and hope after the storm”
Beloved Reflections 