On Saturday 22nd March 2025, our Family Life Unit Team from St. Theresa’s R.C. Church, Barataria, with the support and blessings of Fr. Stoute, invited parents from our parish, as well as other parishes in the Suburban Vicariate, to the Children Are Gift (CAG) Workshop, facilitated by the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission (AFLC).
The workshop was held at the Seminary of St. John Vianney, up on The Mount. It was a beautiful and blessed day and the presence of the Holy Spirit was felt moving mightily, among all twenty-one of us participants and presenters, from the very start. Words alone cannot describe the experience but an attempt will be made to refer to the highlights of our awesome day. We started our day with breakfast, an hour before our actual start time of 9am. This allowed us to meet with and get to know each other, beforehand. Tricia Syms then welcomed all of us and offered up a heartfelt prayer, for our day ahead. In her usual T.Syms-style, we were invited to participate, by responding to a few thought-provoking questions, which she encouraged us to answer, aloud. Tricia also gave an overview of what the CAG Workshop is all about and the role of the AFLC, in facilitating the same.
Our main presenter, Alicia Hoyte, in her calm and engaging manner, then took over from Tricia and what an amazing job she did! From a Deep Breathing exercise to help keep us centered and focused to learning all about Discipline versus Punishment, Alicia did not disappoint in the delivery of much-needed and appreciated material.
Even after eating a sumptuous and scrumptious lunch, we were excited to learn more as the workshop continued. We felt that we were in a safe space to express what was on our minds and in our heart and our stories, especially regarding our relationship with our children, poured out freely.
We were also very grateful for Darendra Boodram’s heartfelt sharing of his own journey and experiences, growing up from a little boy to now a young man. His sharing was very insightful and inspirational. By 3:30pm, we had come to the end of our eventful day.On March 26 and April 2, we had two follow-up online sessions, delving deeper into the stages of our children’s development and so much more. We are all now part of our newly-formed CAG Family, supporting and praying for each other. We thank God for allowing us this opportunity to be a part of each other’s lives and we do not hesitate in encouraging all other parents to participate in and fully experience this workshop of healing, life and love.
Upcoming Children Are Gift sessions are on April 12, 2025 (Bishop Mendes Hall, OLPH, San Fernando) and May 17 (St. Francis of Assisi, Sangre Grande). For more information and to register, email: familylife@catholictt.org; WhatsApp 299 1047; 372 0478 or visit AFLC’s website: aflcrc.org.