A Christian Perspective on Social Issues

By GHK Lall

I peer into the struggles of our times, and I think I know what is one of the prime contributions responsible, one of the main ingredients lacking. When the ways of Jesus, as enshrined so faithfully and powerfully in scripture should take hold and govern the lives of frail human beings, I regret and am ashamed that the ways of the world have come to infiltrate, infect, and incite too many in a different direction. So many, is my thinking, that I am willing to conclude that it could be the majority. I look at America, and there it is in shambles in its social environment, in its political upheavals. In the middle of that, though some would find the time and energy to deny or ridicule, there is another dreadful toxin. It is called the racial problem, to state it gently. After almost a century and a half beyond its bloody Civil War to remove the yoke of a race-based slavery system, it is as if that war never ended, but has rebounded from its restless slumber with once-suppressed, now renewed vigor. If after near 150 years of trial and error, ups and downs, progress and retreat, this is where matters rest in arguably the most advanced civilization today, if not ever, then I contemplate what this could hold, how much it may mean, for a sickly society like Guyana. In this wounded, weakened, wretched cluster of communities and neighborhoods called a nation-and it is the frailest of ones, indeed-the outlook doesn’t look too appealing or optimistic for citizens laboring against the tide of an environment settled in, and all too fastened to, its ways of now ancient duration. This is when our Christians, especially our Catholics, should be standing as pillars of sobriety and wisdom, in defiance of what sweeps reflexively across the crowded city, and the huddled villages and spaces dotting the populated areas of this large land. This is when our Church, and its members, ought to be the messengers and spokespeople standing up for truth and justice, and the ways of Jesus. Where are they? Both Church and parishioners taking a stand inside the sacred spaces, standing for something that Jesus would have stood for, and still do? Eternally. Jesus was for brotherhood. As I see it, read it, and hear it (yes, I hear it all the time in our sanctuary of worship); about the grandeur of this love, this principled love that is merciful and forgiving, and which bears no grudges, and which helps us to blaze a path for others to follow, both inside and outside the holy spaces. It is part of following Jesus, and it is not easy, which is for sure, and surely an understatement of a particular kind. We talk about the love Jesus showed for us, the love he left for us-nay, commanded us to embrace-and yet, we are so, oh so, different. As should be obvious by now, on this day, I am being unduly careful with the language. Not for fear of offending, because if that has to be, it will be. But because, the objective is to open eyes and hearts, for all of us (myself at the top of the list) to dare to peak inward for a start. Only a little, then some more, and for there to be the discovery that we have allowed not Jesus to guide our pathways, but the world to overtake us, and consume us, and carry us away in its wash and wake. Be it America or Guyana, there is this new and deep consciousness about identity, and the arrangement of who should be where, and in and on top, and who should be out and kept out, as well as down. It is killing us by a death of a thousand cuts, the sword that cleaves us to our souls, as Jesus himself had warned would be a significant aspect of our hard lot. It is what converts us away from Jesus, and condemns us to follow cravenly in the ways of the world. I say it here and now, and sharply in this instance: the ways of the world are not the ways of Jesus, or of what was left as our standards in the Holy Bible, or what we have come to know are of God’s expectations. Without a doubt, we know, but is what we eagerly ignore, despite all our talk of love. And I compress it in all of its ugliness and the vileness of its poisons. It is of two heads on one body in this country. It is called our politics, and where there is politics, there is that other monster that proudly goes by the name of race. We have to be the most hard-hearted people on this planet. The wandering, settled, and frequently disobedient Israelites had their law. We have the love that Jesus gave to us and left us, and that adds to the law first, and then ultimately triumphs over that same law, in the crucible of challenge, in those tough, unbearable, and intolerable choices to be made. ❖

Gracious and loving God, we thank your for the gift of our priests. Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments. Help our priests to be strong in their vocation. Set their souls on fire with love for your people. Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom. Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel. Allow them to experience joy in their ministry. Help them to become instruments of your divine grace. We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest. Amen

Carmelite Sisters are available for counselling on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 12 noon and 1:00pm to 2:00 pm, at the Cathedral Presbytery. They are also available by appointment. Persons are encouraged to avail themselves of these se rv i ce s. Ki n dl y co n tact th e Cathedral parish office on tel. no. 226-4631 for details.

September Monthly Intention:

We pray that the death penalty, which attacks the dignity of the human person, may be legally abolished in every country.❖