OUR NATION’S FEAST

Espiritualidades
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It seems to have become the norm in this past decade that we celebrate the Patronal Feast of our country, Trinity Sunday, in the midst of an unacceptable number of violent crimes, carnage on our highways and political and labour – if not unrest – insecurity.

The truth is that as a people we do not reflect what the name given to us by Columbus, and which we have all accepted, implies. We are told that on approaching the southern coast of this island, Columbus saw three peaks or hills and because at that time the culture of Europe was decidedly Christian, he was reminded of the three persons of the Holy Trinity and gave the island this name. The Holy Trinity is often described as Unity in Diversity, three distinct persons (Diversity) but One God (Unity). As Christians and Catholics we sign ourselves every day in the name of the Trinity, thereby putting ourselves under the sign of the Trinity and committing ourselves to live what Trinity implies. Moreover, today’s Gospel (Mt 28:16-20) asks us to go out and make disciples of all peoples, baptising them also in the name of the Trinity and thus asking all who have been baptised to live what Trinity implies.

This year’s celebration of the Patronal Feast of our nation – in the face of an unquestionably high number of violent crimes, carnage on our highways and dissatisfaction on the political and labour fronts – demands of us a determination to discover the causes of these problems and their appropriate remedies or solutions. It demands first of all a commitment to Trinidad and Tobago, a commitment to seek the best for this land of ours so that all citizens and every creed and race truly have an equal place. In this collective search for what is best for this land of ours, it is normal that there will be differences of opinion which will be solved only by dialogue, which may be vigorous at times, but which must lead to consensus so that we will all use our different gifts and talents in the pursuit of the common goal.

This dialogue must embrace all levels of society, not only those with political power or academic degrees, and all citizens must know that their thoughts and opinions are taken seriously. Government therefore has to ensure that structures which facilitate the gathering, sharing and distilling of opinions at all levels are put in place. Without such structures and without an education system that encourages and facilitates critical thinking, the prevailing ethos of our land will continue to be “what’s in it for me”. Such an ethos can in no way benefit our nation; it will only continue leading us down the path of division and conflict.
As Church we cannot propose this kind of dialogue unless we are willing to do it ourselves. All Church institutions therefore must seek to develop those structures and strategies which allow all voices to be heard and, as far as possible, help achieve consensus.

Families must also be schools of critical thinking and consensus building. Unless we do these things, we will continue to see an unacceptable number of violent crimes, carnage on our roadways and signs of political and labour insecurity.