Father Jason Gordon is a parish priest with a difference. His parish encompasses the Living Water Community where he says Holy Mass on Friday at noon, Saturday at 8.45 a.m, and Sundays at 8 a.m. for television broadcast on Trinity Television Channel 10.
At age 43, his hands are filled with Living Water's projects, such as, The Caribbean School of Catholic Communications, Trinity Communications Network and A programme for socially displaced young men. Yet he finds the time to hear confessions and give spiritual direction.
It was his involvement with the Community which led him to the priesthood. "I didn't want always to be a priest, it was the last thing I ever wanted to be. Although I did think about it at age 16 for about 15 minutes or so and worked out four excellent reasons why that could not be what God ever would ask of me."
Then at age 20/21, Gordon got involved with the Community and started to realise that he was being pulled in two different directions. "I made the choice to go to the Community and started studying for the priesthood at the Regional Seminary" where he now lectures in Communications, Third World Theology, Social Studies and Caribbean Church History.
He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from the University of the West Indies, went to Leubain in Belgium and obtained a BA in Philosophy and a Master of Arts in Theology. And is now in the process of completing a Doctorate in Theology with the University of London.
Father Gordon's ordination to the Diaconate was carded for July 27, 1990, the day of the attempted Muslimeen Coup, and had to be put off to September. Six months later on March 19, 1991, he was ordained a priest.
Eight years ago, the School of Catholic Communications came into being at Emmaus Retreat Centre in Arima. Father Gordon and June Johnston, Associate Editor of the Catholic News, are the co-ordinators of the school's residential programme which runs for just one week annually, the second week in August. Local and overseas facilitators are used. The participants, sometimes as many as sixty, from all over the Caribbean, go home and put some of the things they have learned into practise in the intervening year until they come back to the second and final years of the course. "We are surprised at what they have done between the times of the previous school week and their return at which time they are eager to go to the next place."
"We teach communications from two perspectives, both Caribbean and Catholic. Raising burning issues in the Caribbean and try to forge a Catholic perspective. We deal with the Word and the World as always pointing to the Kingdom of God, as communications is really at the heart of Theology because God gave the Word so you cannot divorce Theology from God or move it from life."
The School is particular about giving a healthy, positive approach to communications as tools of our age that have been given for the spread of information. "Unfortunately" says Father Jason "it produces both bad and good news so the second thing we try to give are tools of discernment. Media literacy teaches people how to read media- hidden messages. For instance, women are portrayed in the media positively, with a body of a15 or 16 year old and a particular look about the hair, face and eyes, showing this as the ideal woman, which means that 99% can never reach the ideal past that age. People have to start seeing beyond construction of story lines. With media literacy you then have the tools to see not only the storyline but to see the hidden message and the value system that the work of media is also conveying, so we use the media for talking about positive and negative values but the emphasis is on media literacy and making moral choices that we need to make."
The school brings the media into cathecatics, giving new tools to cathechists in parishes which would allow the student to engage in the message more deeply from First Communion to adulthood, rather than using boring lectures. "We are laying the groundwork and preparing people for Ministry in the church."
Father Jason is very excited about the upcoming first anniversary of the Trinity Communications Network which broadcasts, via radio, Holy Mass live from Living Waters at 109 Frederick Street week-days at noon, and a series of other programmes on a daily basis, more of which will be heard about nearer to the anniversary date in December.
He is responsible for the Community's project for socially displaced young men, in which around twenty young men are put into an education, developmental programme - into Servol or some skills programme - to carry them through until they can get a job and be independent. "We take them right through to the end if they want to and certainly see them through to being independent. They are housed, clothed, fed and educated, not only formal education but skills education as well" explained Father Jason.