Opposition Leader offers Lenten greetings to the Christian community
As the Christian community observes Ash Wednesday and the start of the Holy Lenten season, I take this opportunity to offer them my sincere wishes for a prayerful, blessed, spiritually enriching, and peaceful period as they embark on a journey that will strengthen their faith.
This Ash Wednesday, as many receive Ashes, a symbol of mortality and repentance, it is a reminder that above all our achievements, beyond all our earthly possessions, beyond all our ambitions, we are nothing but dust without the love, forgiveness, and mercy of God.
I pray that this Lenten season enlightens, inspires, and motivates all our Christian brothers and sisters who embark on this period of sacrifice, prayer as well as fasting.
Lent is a season that offers us as a country great values as it creates the opportunity for us to separate ourselves on the activities focused on our own desires for the actions that align us more with God’s will for humanity. Lent is a season that teaches us as a nation the opportunity to be less about ourselves and more about each other through its core pillars of prayer, fasting, and giving.
This is reflected in Pope Francis’ Lent 2023 message: “the Lord speaks to us through our brothers and sisters, especially in the faces and the stories of those who are in need”.
Therefore as a country let us use this Lenten season to reach out to the many who are burdened in our nation, not only economically but who are burdened mentally due to being alone or isolated from society. Let us use this Lent as a nation to create a space, place, plan, and purpose where all are welcome.
May God bless our Christian community as they prepare for Easter through reverence in this Lenten season
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Leader of the Opposition
22nd February 2023