by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Recently, I visited Westminster Cathedral in London. As I stood before the Door of Mercy, I reflected on the words contained in today’s Gospel – words that should form our breastplate prayer:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To let the oppressed go free, and
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Luke 4: 18 -19).
Jesus himself was the fulfillment of these words which He quoted from Isaiah’s prophecy. Today, we are the Body of Christ in the world and each of us must strive to live our faith by acting on the biblical mandate given to us in Luke above.
In his Prayer for the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis reminds us that we “are the face of the invisible Father, of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified…Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind”.
If we are the hands and feet of the living God, we must demonstrate that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are integral parts of our very being.
Pope Francis has said: “It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty.” (And see the encyclical, God is love (no.31).
Social justice also requires that we lift our heads above the parapet and speak out against injustices that stand as obstacles in the path of building God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Our Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, no. 201 reminds us that social justice “concerns the social, political, and economic aspects and, above all, the structural dimension of problems and their respective solutions.”
With all the challenges that we will continue to face during these economically difficult times of structural adjustment/transformation, let us all be advocates for the poor and the vulnerable, so that as the “pie” shrinks, those on the margins/fringes will be embraced in the fold of humanity and will be able to have a fair share in whatever little exists. Let us also strive to be good stewards of our environment. Laudato Si rightly calls for integral ecology.
Catholics are everywhere – in all fields of endeavour. We must use our God-given knowledge, skills and ability to promote the common good. As the Body of Christ, let us show mercy out of love rather than duty e.g. to build community; to strengthen family life; to raise the quality of teaching and learning in our educational institutions – creating opportunities/fostering creativity and innovation among our people.
We must heed the warning by the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce in its commentary in Express Business on Jan 13: “The litmus test of good (Government) policy…remains the evidence of support (or not) from the business community in implementing it.”
The Chamber noted that there are “several practical areas where the business community, government, the Labour movement and civil society can work together to establish our collective commitment to pursuing…change”, as well as some “challenging questions to which we must eventually bring resolve…”
For example: “How can we better the development of the skills and talent of our citizens so they can produce innovative and competitive goods and services?”
I agree with the Chamber’s view that “Despite drastic volatility in the energy sector…this situation presents an opportunity to display our resilience during adversity”.
The issues raised by The Chamber (Newsday Business Jan 14) are on the tongues of many e.g. the need for economic diversification, increased productivity; the need to address “the four most problematic areas for doing business in T&T: poor ethics in the national labour force, corruption, inefficient government bureaucracy, and crime.” (See the Global Competitiveness Index 2015 which ranked T&T 89th out of 140 nations).
In this guava season, we cannot afford to be indifferent!
Please watch CCSJ’s Ask Why TV programme on TCN on Tuesday Jan 26 (8-9 p.m.). Theme: Pope Francis’ 2016 Peace Message –Overcome indifference to win peace.
