by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, “who are all equally God, and cannot be divided” (Pope Francis).
Jesus’ words to His disciples in today’s Gospel (Jn 16:12-15) apply to us also: “…when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth…”
On Trinity Sunday 2014, Pope Francis reminded us that love is at the heart of the Trinity and that “the Eucharist is like the ‘burning bush’ in which the Trinity humbly dwells and communicates itself”. And in 2015 he highlighted the fact that this solemnity renews in us “our own mission to live in communion with God and with each other… We are not called to live without the other, above or against the other, but with the other, for the other and in the other… The Holy Spirit guides us towards full knowledge of Christ’s teachings. Jesus came to the world to acquaint us with the Father…Everything, in Christian life, revolves around the mystery of the Trinity and is fulfilled in this infinite mystery. Let us look, therefore, to keep high the ‘tone’ of our life, reminding ourselves to what end, for what glory we exist, work, struggle, suffer; and to which immense prize we are called [to have].”
We live in a blessed country named after the Trinity, yet we are still to rise to the challenge of living as though the Father, Son and Holy Spirit reside in us. The Holy Spirit is leading/guiding us to the ‘truth’, but are we open to listen and to act on the ‘truth’?
Our baptism has made us children of the Trinity. That should influence how we live our lives and how we use our God-given gifts to build a better T&T/world. Remember Pope Francis’ words at Pentecost last week, that we risk being ‘armchair’ Christians if we do not let the Holy Spirit lead our lives.
Our Trinitarian God is a God of justice. As His followers, we must read the signs of the times and ‘do’ justice. The prophet Micah (Mic6:8) tells us what God asks of us: “to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God”. Canon 222 of the Code of Canon Law, which describes the obligations of the laity, states that they “are … obliged to promote social justice”.
As Pope St John XXIII said in his encyclical, ‘Peace on Earth’: “Each one of us is required to make his/her own contribution to the universal common good. Daily is born in on us the need to make the reality of social life conform better to the requirements of justice.”
Spend some time to reflect on how the Trinity applies to your life today – influencing your relationship with God, neighbour, creation and self; inspiring you to build the common good; being His instrument in thought, word and deed.
Each of us, in our own sphere of responsibility – at home, school, parish, workplace, has a duty to challenge injustice. The Holy Spirit will fill us with courage to speak out when we observe abuse of, for example, children, the elderly, the differently-abled, victims of crime, persons on remand for inordinate periods of time, refugees and asylum seekers.
In a time of recession/structural adjustment, are we using our limited resources effectively and efficiently? Recently, the media reported that one in five persons lives in a squat. The scandal of poverty in T&T diminishes all of us.
The Newsday ‘Business Day’ Editorial of May 5 titled “Finding the new poverty line”, highlights what many have been saying. The last Survey of Living Conditions (SLC) was conducted in 2005 – 16.7% were living below the poverty line of T&T $665 per month. The 2014 Survey conducted by the CSO is not complete as data is being corrected in light of a consultant’s analytical results.
The Editorial rightly states: “…a new poverty line has to be computed…At a time when the economy is contracting with job loss, significant decline in revenues from the energy sector, and lower levels of foreign currency earned, monitoring the impact on households especially households that become poor or where indigence rises, the need for more frequent data from an SLC is important…The government must…not wait so long to gather information about poverty and inequality. Such tardiness exacerbates the lives of families whose financial conditions have deteriorated.”
It is estimated that more than 21% are living below the poverty line today.
Holy Trinity, help us to build a just society – based on respect for the transcendent dignity of each person and all your creation.
