Category: columns2020

columns2020

Valuing our #youth

Post author By Web administrator
Post date August 9, 2020

youth day

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI

On Monday, citizens will go to the polls to vote in our General Election (GE), to elect the 41 persons who will sit in the House of Representatives in our 12th T&T Republican Parliament.
Since our last GE in 2015, many of our youth would have turned 18 years and would now be eligible to vote. Too often we forget that it was only in 1976 that our Republican Constitution extended adult franchise from persons 21 years and over to include those who are 18 years and over.

Tags Youth

columns2020

Compassion, the language of God

Post author By Web administrator
Post date August 2, 2020

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI

“Compassion allows you to see reality; compassion is like the lens of the heart: it allows us to take in and understand the true dimensions. In the Gospels, Jesus is often moved by compassion. And compassion is also the language of God” (Pope Francis).

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Next Monday, August 10, we go to the polls to elect the 41 persons, each of whom will sit as a member of the House of Representatives.
The moral test of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. Let’s continue to encourage those elected to use the nation’s resources to promote the dignity of each person and build the common good.

columns2020

Yes, your vote counts

Post author By Web administrator
Post date July 26, 2020

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI

“…responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.”
(Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium [The Joy of the Gospel], no 220, quoting United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, November 2007, no 13).

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In just over two weeks, we will go to the polls to cast our votes for the candidate/party of our choice. It’s important for Catholics and the wider community to understand the importance of the call for us to participate in society.

Tags general elections, voting

columns2020

Accompanying those addicted to gambling

Post author By Web administrator
Post date July 19, 2020

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI

“We pray for those suffering from addiction may be properly helped and accompanied.” —Pope Francis

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In Pope Francis’ prayer intention for April 2020, he asked everyone to pray for those who suffer from addiction, especially addiction to gambling, pornography, and the internet.

After last week’s parable of the sower, in today’s gospel, Matthew 13:24–43, we read the parables of the risk of weeding wheat, the promise of growth in tiny seeds, and the effect of leaven in bread dough.
Each of us must strive to be leaven in our neighbourhood’s/nation’s ‘dough’.

Tags addiction, gambling

columns2020

Building an inclusive society

Post author By Web administrator
Post date July 12, 2020

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI

“Violence is not the cure for our broken world“—Pope Francis.

Let’s pray for members of the recently appointed committee that is leading the Community Recovery Programme. I am sure they will adopt a multifaceted approach to the work in hand. There is no quick fix in building an inclusive society. For decades all of us have failed to address the deep-seated structural problems that exist.

Tags justice