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Urging Christians not to be hypocrites but to live their lives in service to others, Roman Catholic episcopal vicar and parish priest Fr David Khan yesterday called on citizens to be more productive.
His call came as hundreds of Roman Catholics took to the streets of San Fernando to celebrate the annual Corpus Christi march. With the Corpus Christi banner and the national and papal flags on either side, the parishioners from Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church marched along Harris Promenade, Independence Avenue, Keate Street, Coffee Street, Lord Street and then back to the Promenade as they sang hymns and a medley of choruses.
Khan, in his sermon, said pleasing God was more important than pleasing men.
“Roman Catholic Christians are conscious that we need to plant goodness and weed out what is evil. Many times we spend our time winning the admiration and the favour of the people but we end up losing the favour of Almighty God,” Khan said.
He added, “Corpus Christi brings us right back, a full circle so that we need to recognise the need to win the favour of God.”
Khan also said people must spend their lives serving others.
“How many Christians in places of power and authority can bring about transformation, can truly become a person of service to build the kingdom of God and even simply do what is good?”
Making an indirect reference to former prime minister Basdeo Panday, Khan said, “We had one Prime Minister in the past who said politics has an immorality of itself. Notice I said immorality and not morality because many times it is immoral. We need to recognise that what we are to be as a people of God is to be a people that do what is right and good and pleasing in the eyes of Almighty God. It may not always be right and pleasing in the eyes of men and women.”
He urged people to emulate Christ saying, “If we not becoming more like Jesus is it hypocrisy? Are we being hypocrites? Thank God the church always has room for hypocrites so we can truly become who we are meant to be in this world.”
In an interview after the sermon, Khan defended the decision to have Corpus Christi continue as a holiday saying it was rooted in T&T’s history.
“When the Spaniards ruled the land and handed over to British it was in our constitution to remember Corpus Christi,” he said.
Asked whether he was satisfied with productivity levels, Khan said there was room for improvement. He also said there was a decline in the traditional custom of planting because it was not promoted as it should.
“We need to return to basics because it is out of the planting with the land that production takes place,” Khan added.