Archbishop Jason Bishop has called on Catholics to change the way they mark the period of Lent and restore the sacredness of the season.
In his first mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Port-of-Spain, he pointed to the way revellers stay away from certain foods in the build-up to Carnival in a bid to get their bodies in shape. He called on Catholics to adopt a similar type of commitment.
“Let us hold the sanctity of this sacred season… They understand that for Carnival there is a ritual of giving up and mortifying the body, we must understand for Lent there are rituals for mortifying the body of prayer and alms giving,” he said.
In his homily at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in San Fernando thereafter, the Archbishop explained that Ash Wednesday is a public proclamation of penance for not living up to what God wants, hence the ashes on worshippers’ foreheads.
He noted that it was the first time in a long time that Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day were celebrated on the same day, but said both occasions work together.
Archbishop Gordon added that God is love but Christians have failed to fulfil God’s commandment to love.
“If we had lived up to the commandment of love, our country could not be in the state that it is riddled in right now. If we had lived up to the commandment of love, then we could not have as many homeless people on the streets right now. If we would have lived up to the commandment of love, then we couldn’t have as many people in destitution and in travail in our nation as we have now. If we would have lived up to the commandment of love, brothers and sisters, this whole nation and our families and our church would be different,” he said.
He advised parishioners to “intentionally observe” the Lenten period, as it was easy for Carnival Tuesday “to roll right into Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, with various fetes and events already planned for Lent”.
“I am asking us to intentionally choose to live this Lent like you have never lived a Lent before, to intentionally choose what you are going to do with the prayer, what you are going to do with the fasting and what you are going to do with the alms giving.”
The Archbishop conducted three masses on Wednesday.