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Dear Boys and Girls, Catechetical Sunday Today Sunday September 18th 2022 is Catechetical Sunday. On Catechetical Sunday, we acknowledge the dedication of those who serve as catechists in our parish family. On Catechetical Sunday, parents and guardians are also honored because they are the true first catechists, sharing the Catholic faith with their families. Print out the Prayer for my Catechist at right, colour it and add the names, and give it to your Catechist or Sunday School Teacher. Honesty is the Best Policy In today’s Gospel, Jesus told his disciples a story to teach them about honesty. He told them about a rich man who had a manager, and the manager was using the man's money for himself. When the rich man discovered that the manager was wasting his money, he called him in and fired him. After telling this story, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." If you and I make sure that we are honest in the small things, then we can be sure that we will be honest in the big things. If people know that they can trust us in small things, they will know that they can trust us in the big things too. Dear Father, help us to remember what Jesus taught about honesty and help us to be honest in every situation — big or small. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. ❖

Guyana prays for the cure to COVID-19

All-powerful God, With humble hearts and heads bowed down, We thank you for the gifts which we have taken for granted. We thank you for life, health, joy, and peace. We thank you for our families, friends, and neighbours. We thank you for our country, its natural beauty, and its diverse peoples. We thank you for our earth which provides all that we need to sustain ourselves so that we can live. In this time of illness, confusion, and fear Look upon your people with mercy and love. For those already afflicted, We ask you to touch them with the grace of healing and deliverance. For those who are vulnerable, lonely and fearful, Wipe away their tears and help them to trust. We pray for all the essential workers especially those in healthcare, education, agriculture, and law enforcement. Bless their hearts, hands, and minds as they respond with generosity to the cries of your people. Bless your people here in Guyana. Guide the leaders of our country, that they may take wise decisions that will benefit us all. Help us to reach out to the poor, lonely, vulnerable, and fearful wherever they may be. We are on the same boat, fragile and disoriented, called to row together and comfort each other. Protect us, heavenly Father, so that we may be spared the worst of this illness and receive those who have died into your loving embrace. We make this prayer in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.❖

the Duke of York. Both men invested private funds in the company. Between 1690 and 1807, an estimated 6 million enslaved Africans were transported from west Africa to the Americas on British or AngloAmerican ships. The slave trade was protected by the royal family and parliament. It is difficult to estimate just how much of the current royal family’s wealth is owed to slavery, but it is understood that the profits of the slave trade funded the Treasury, as well as Britain’s industries, buildings, railways, roads and parks. • The British monarchy as a brand was valued at around USD 88 billion in 2017 by valuation consultancy firm Brand Finance. • The Queen's personal wealth from investments, art, jewels and real estate was estimated by ‘Forbes' to be worth around USD 500 million. •

‘The Sunday Times Rich List' calculated the late Queen's wealth at 340 million pounds in 2015. The British royal family has not taken ownership of its past wrongs. There has been no commitment by the royals to formally own up to and acknowledge their family’s history of slavery. Although in a speech in Jamaica in March last year Prince William expressed “profound sorrow,” saying slavery “should never have happened,” observers noted that he stopped short of apologizing, which is what advocates in Jamaica and other Caribbean territories have asked for. Those who enjoy power, wealth and privilege which are not acquired by their own honest efforts and especially those who publicly or privately consider that such status has been bestowed on them by God, find it most difficult to apologise for the abuse of that status and for their silence in the face of monstrous injustice and oppression that have contributed to the maintenance of that status. One of my earliest memories is that of joining the long queue outside the specially constructed site in 1953 where the Bank of Guyana now stands, to view in awe replicas of the crown jewels and finery and opulence of the Coronation. The Prince of Peace would “not have been amused” then and even less so at the arrival of British troops a few months later, to violently enforce the removal of the first freely-elected government in Guyana in the name of that divinely established monarchy. Hopefully we, and the UK will continue to learn from our histories.❖