As Catholics celebrated the body of Christ yesterday, Monsignor Christian Pereira called on Christians to assess the carelessness that is leading to the deaths of our nation’s children. “What is happening to our children? Oh gosh! It is not my fault. Oh Gosh! I forgot. Oh Gosh! I didn’t realise. That is not good enough for people who are living in Jesus and for people in whom Jesus is living,” Pereira said.
In a hearty Corpus Christi homily at Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church in San Fernando, Pereira said instead of blaming others, each person should commit to making the world a safe place for children and elders. “As a people, each and every one of us must take stock of the carelessness and the mediocrity, which we continue to live our lives with, for that in itself has caused and is causing so many of our children to die. “We say we are not bad people and maybe rightly so, but are we really good people? Are we really men and women who are attentive to the indwelling of Jesus in our lives? Are we allowing out carelessness to lead us more and more to see our children dying in front of our eyes?”
Within the past two months, 15 children have died under tragic circumstances, sending shock and concern throughout the nation. It was just Monday that four-year-old Kimora Millette died in a fire at her La Romaine home. While children are dying, Pereira lamented that young people were destroying their old lives while elders were fighting among themselves for things that cannot bring happiness. Invoking introspection among parishioners, he asked: “Where is our world going? Have we forgotten the one who wants to live within us? Have we forgotten the one who calls us to dwell within?
“As Catholics if we do nothing else on this Corpus Christi, let us reaffirm our identity in Jesus, let us reaffirm our relationship with him, allowing him not only to live within us, but allow us to live with him, to focus our lives on the care which we must all take for each other, not to blame it on his or her carelessness and their negligence and their wrongdoing but rather to look at ourselves and ask myself: ‘Can I be a more careful person?’” And as the long holiday weekend began, he cautioned motorists against drinking and driving, saying that it not only destroys vehicles, but human lives and families. After spending the morning in prayer, hundreds of parishioners went on a procession through the city, giving special prayers for medical practitioners, government workers, ancestors, agricultural workers and for smooth traffic operations of the nation’s roadways.