Last Friday, October 23, we had the great joy of receiving, in the birthplace of Mother Trinidad of the Holy Mother Church, the Most Rev. Andrew Karnley, Bishop of the Diocese of Cape Palmas in Liberia.
Bishop Andrew during the Eucharistic celebration in the chapel of the birthplace of Mother Trinidad
Bishop Andrew first came to know The Work of the Church in June 2018, on the occasion of the Ad Limina Visit together with the episcopal conference of his country.
The Work of the Church cared for them with transport throughout their stay in Rome. During those days he had the opportunity to visit the apostolate house “Saint Peter the Apostle” which The Work of the Church has in the Eternal City.
He kept a pleasant impression of that house, above all, the very beautiful chapel and the warm welcome they received from the responsible members who live in that centre.
After a second Ad Limina Visit, in March of this year, with the same welcome, they offered him the chance to attend a spiritual retreat in that same house. And he decided to participate in “The Plan of God in the Church” in the last month of October.
The retreat, he told us, left him dazzled and captivated, with an appetite to read, listen to and contemplate teachings which he considers a “treasure throve” of spiritual truths.
After the retreat, he wanted to go to know the places where everything began in the life of Mother Trinidad, with the spirit of a pilgrim who seeks those holy places in which God has worked in one way or another, and which are full of His “presence.”
He celebrated Holy Mass together with a large group of members of The Work of the Church. With great emotion he stressed in his homily the great privilege he felt for being able to be there. He gave us the following explanation to prove this:
“God willed that this site, blessed by Him with a threefold blessing, be converted into a chapel: it is here where Mother Trinidad was born, where she worked with her brother Antonio and her family, and the place where she received the religious experience and the divine vocation to be ‘Echo of the Church,’ called to do the will of God.
The vocation of Mother Trinidad is ‘a sign of the times’ which, by the power of the Holy Spirit, throughout her whole life she was able to deliver teachings about the Most Holy Trinity, prayer and the call to holiness, consecrated life, the consequences of saying ‘no’ to God, the graces and benefits of saying ‘yes’ and the example of total surrender to the divine will.
From her life one can discover the great teaching that God has a plan, a purpose and a mission for each person from conception to death — ‘I am called to a mission in the Church’: baptism grounds that consecration, which Bishops, Priests, and Consecrated persons offer up to the service of the mission of the Church.
I desire, —he told us—, that each listener, like Mother Trinidad —being faithful, committed, dedicated and a ‘magnet’ that drew everyone toward mission—, may be a light in the darkness, draw others, pray for consecrated life and offer up his or her own service within the Church.”
He ended his stay among us thanking The Work of the Church for the retreat “The Plan of God in the Church,” which renewed and uplifted him spiritually, and also for having had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the birthplace of Mother Trinidad of the Holy Mother Church.
He concluded by asking for prayers for him, for his rural diocese in Liberia and for his people, closing the meeting with a prayer of thanksgiving and the final blessing to those who were present.
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