By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & AMMR
On Tuesday, August 31, we will celebrate the 59th anniversary of T&T’s Independence. Let’s give thanks to God for our democracy, our freedom, and for the many gifts that He has bestowed upon us.
We remember with gratitude those who laboured in the vineyard and sacrificed much to gain our independence. Reflect on how far we have come, and what we need to do to go forward.
Let’s celebrate our achievements over these past 59 years and strive to ensure that everyone is benefitting from our independence. As Nelson Mandela said: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
Are there signs that we truly value T&T’s Independence? Read again Dr Eric Williams’ speech delivered at the Independence Youth Rally on the eve of our Independence.
Inter alia, he said: “I have given to the nation as its watch words DISCIPLINE, PRODUCTION, TOLERANCE….translate the ideal of our national anthem into a code of everyday behaviour and make our nation one in which every creed and race find an equal place”.
Catholics are called to promote integral human development and the common good. “We are one human family. Our responsibilities to each other cross national, racial, economic, and ideological differences. Learning to practise the virtue of solidarity means learning that ‘loving our neighbour’ has global dimensions in an interdependent world” (US Bishops).
This Independence Day, reflect on whether the way in which we live our lives demonstrates that we are all brothers and sisters. Pope Francis reminds us: “We are called to live not as one without others, above or against others, but with and for others.”
Has our independence led us to care for God’s creation? Pope Francis rightly asks: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up? All is not lost. Human beings… are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start… and [embarking] on new paths to authentic freedom” (#160, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis, 205).
We are blessed to be living in T&T, a country populated with incredibly talented people. But the rising tide in T&T does not lift everyone. T&T is a country in which freedom has led some to amass enormous wealth while many are barely managing to eke out a living. And the pandemic has exacerbated the plight of the poor and socially excluded.
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Our Church teaches us that the goods of the earth are gifts from God, and they are intended by God for the benefit of everyone. Can we work together to find a place at the table of life for Lazarus?
In our independent T&T, we cannot say that we have a right relationship with God when many nurture only a vertical relationship with Him. On the day of judgement, we will be judged on the kind of relationship we had with our neighbour, particularly the ‘least’ among us – not only locally, but globally (Mt 25). Christ calls us to live in fraternity. Read Pope Francis’ encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.
Pope St John Paul II rightly reminded us that: “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” How many of us are doing what we ought to build the common good?
Building a just society, a truly independent nation, requires all hands-on deck; it requires all of us to acknowledge not only our rights, but also our responsibilities.
It would help if we all live gospel values such as love, integrity, discipline, production, tolerance, responsibility, hospitality, courage, and compassion/respect for the dignity of each person.
And while we pray: Lord, “let justice flow like water, and integrity like an unfailing stream” (Amos 5:24), let’s see our reality through the lens of Catholicism and then ACT to effect change.
This Independence Day let’s be guided by the words of St Paul in his letter to the Philippians: “…fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise” (4:8).
Happy Independence Day!
