Catholic Commission for Social JusticeBy Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ, & Director, CREDI
Today, Sunday March 25, the world marks the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. There can be no moral justification for slavery. We are all diminished by this crime against humanity.
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ, & Director, CREDI
The world will observe The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21. The theme this year is: Promoting tolerance, inclusion, unity and respect for diversity in the context of combating racial discrimination.
The world observed International Women’s Day (IWD) last Thursday (March 8). Women play a pivotal role in society. While we commemorate their political, social and economic achievements, let us step up our efforts to empower girls/women and create conditions to enable them to realise their full potential.
The theme for IWD this year was Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives. Let’s maintain our focus on this theme and play our part in transforming women’s lives.
On Tuesday, February 20, I attended Vision on Mission’s (VOM) Preparation for release launch 2018, entitled: ‘Changing the Criminal Thinking’ — held at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca. Wayne Chance and various speakers spoke with passion.
Having spent a few days at a workshop in Tobago in January with Wayne and a number of NGO leaders who go the extra mile to lift T&T out of the depths of crime and violence to which we have descended, I know that all is not lost. There are enough good T&T citizens who continue to work tirelessly to build our nation.
Today’s Gospel, Mark 9:2–10, tells the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. God’s message to Peter, James and John via the voice from the cloud, applies to us also, particularly in the times in which we live. He said: “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.”
You will recall that in Matthew 3:13–17, as soon as Jesus was baptised and came out from the water, “the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.”
The transfiguration shows Jesus in all His divine glory. As followers, we are called to listen to Him. But are we listening or, as the saying goes, ‘stick break in our ears’?