Archbishop urges Catholics to sacrifice for a better Trinidad and Tobago

Archbishop Jason Gordon says there can be no civilisation without sacrifice.

Delivering the Palm Sunday sermon at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in San Fernando, the archbishop urged parishioners to give freely of themselves.

“We live in a world where sacrifice is a bad word. It is all about me.

“We live in this world where we believe the greatest life is one of pleasure, plenty and comfort.

“We have robbed ourselves of the depth of civilisation.”

He said there was no civilisation without sacrifice. “None. it is impossible. It is impossible to build a civilisation without sacrifice.”

“There is no harmony in a family if there is no sacrifice in that family. What you get very quickly is a bunch of individuals cohabitating in one existence or in one place.”

He also said if a family cannot be built on sacrifice then neither can a country.

Gordon also bemoaned, “ No one is making deep sacrifices.”

Without going into specifics, the archbishop said the country wanted harmony. However, he added that it has never happened without sacrifice.

“Without proper sacrifice, there is no harmony or communion.”

Gordon spoke of the “true nature of sacrifice,” saying when individuals understand it, only then can there be a foundation whether it is in the family or the nation.

He also urged his flock not to question where their sacrifice will take them as they did not know what it would achieve.

“You do not know what your sacrifice will do.”

On the occasion, Gordon said the week from Passion Sunday (or Palm Sunday) to Good Friday was the most holy of weeks in the Christian calendar.

After Sunday’s service, Archbishop Gordon led the Palm Sunday Procession on the compound of the church.