Archbishop of Trinidad and Tobago
Jason Gordon was born and grew up in Trinidad. At an early age his father died and he successfully assumed the responsibility of the family business. In 1981 he entered Living Water Community, a lay ecclesiastical community in Trinidad. He studied for the priesthood and completed a Masters in Theology (Magna cum Laude) and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Leuven, Belgium. He was ordained in 1991 and completed his PhD at Heythrop, in the University of London, where he first encountered WCCM.
He received awards for his work with disadvantaged youth and as Bishop of Barbados started ‘The Hub: People helping People’, to assist people achieve sustainable livelihoods. He has work to achieve Judicial Reform and to speed up the delivery of justice. He is a member of Jubilee 2000, an international ecumenical consortium that seeks justice through debt forgiveness on behalf of the world’s most indebted nations. In 2017 He was appointed Archbishop of Trinidad and Tobago and is currently the President of the Antilles Episcopal Conference of Bishops.
‘Archbishop J’ is a beloved figure in Trinidad and Tobago where he was appointed Archbishop in 2017. He has authored several books, including Meditation in the Upper Room, Teach Us to Pray, Food for the Journey. He has been a patron of the WCCM and especially supports its mission throughout the schools and parishes in the Caribbean.
Jason has been meditating since the early years of his priesthood and has long been teaching it in all parts of the church and society. He has also experienced the power of the synodal process at the grass-roots level in his spiritual leadership of the Archdiocese of Trinidad and Tobago and later at the global level in Rome. Synodality is simply the ancient wisdom of consultation, attentive conversation in what St Benedict calls ‘calling the members to council’. But as Jason will describe in the second half of the seminar, the active agent is deep listening which makes it a contemplative work and the leader of the process is the Spirit. Contemplative experience prepares us and informs such transformative communication and so they should be seen as two sides of one path to recovery.
As always meditation will shape the days of the week’s Seminar and there will be sessions too where the listening and mindful sharing of Synodality will be practised (and take the place of the usual silent retreat.)
All photos of Archbishop Jason Gordon are courtesy The Catholic News, Trinidad & Tobago. Used with permission.
Archbishop Jason Gordon, or ‘Archbishop J’ as he is fondly called is best known for his passion for reaching out to the poorest of the poor armed not with weapons, but with love and solidarity.
He is not afraid to walk alongside the forgotten, the ‘lepers’ in our society, the physically, financially and spiritually marginalized who exist in the valleys of darkness in these Caribbean Islands .
Coming from a home where his father taught him to 'give ‘til it hurts' even when times were tough, social obligation isn’t just a phrase for him but his lifeblood.
Archbishop J is also a well-known personality because of his tv and social media presence both nourishing the intellect and nurturing the spirit. He has an incredible ability to understand the ‘vibes at ground level’ and is easily recognised wherever he goes in the Caribbean as a man who reaches out, bridging the gap between TV screens and the streets.
In a world often blinded by self-interest, Archbishop J is a leader who inspires, always guiding us towards a brighter, more compassionate tomorrow.
Used with permission.
