Vernon Khelawan
In four days, Trinidadians and Tobagonians will join millions around the world to celebrate Christmas, when we revisit the occasion of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the little town of Bethlehem.
It is a time of peace and goodwill to all; it is a time for family; it is a time for spiritual reflection as well as a time for enjoyment and thanking God for all he presented to us during the past year.
But hanging heavily over this society is a dark cloud that seems to be frustrating all the efforts to transform the society into a more loving one, where there is no family infighting; where neighbours begin to love one another again; where there is respect for human dignity and most importantly, a return to the set of values and standards we once enjoyed in this beloved paradise.
The commercialisation of the season through the constant bombardment of advertising messages via radio, television and the newspapers have served to make us "totoolbay," to use local parlance. We have become victims of a very materialistic world, and our penchant for mimickry does nothing to assist in relieving that burden.
While some people hold fast to some traditions as they relate to food and seasonal specialties, the secular world is rapidly gaining the upper hand and has transformed a formerly content society into one of 'want' and 'must have', otherwise it is not Christmas.
When once we were content to clean our homes and what we have in them, today makeover is the operative word and this is being fuelled by the many contests which promise such a prize to a winner or winners, all in the name of increasing market share.
Gone are the days when at this time you see large jars of ginger and sorrel and even pepper sauce and onions put out in the sunlight for natural curing. Today these are all beautifully packaged in bottles, cartons or cans and colourfully displayed on supermarket shelves.
Except for a few churches in the archdiocese, gone is the traditional Midnight Mass and while the upsurge in crime has to be partially blamed for its extinction, our people have become so engrossed in the worldly things, they claim they have no time to attend Midnight Mass, but they do go out to their parang parties and other such activities.
Let us face it, in T&T today, Christmas has morphed into a combination of a flurry of spending on irrelevant item, an extended period of gorging on food and consuming alcoholic drinks until you become stupid.
As Catholics it is time to stop such behaviour and encourage family and friends to understand the reason for the season–the second coming of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in whom salvation is lodged. While there is nothing wrong with having a good time with family and friends as part of the celebrations, we must remember that the real purpose is to pay homage to the child Jesus through good deeds, charity, and love of your neighbour.
Let us try to resuscitate that special feeling of love and warmth which pervaded this country in former times, when people were truly happy and wanted to celebrate the coming of Christ, because even then there was no lack of enjoyment, music and food. As a matter of fact, the foods were much better, having been prepared with loving hearts and hands. In other words, they were not franchised.
The management and staff of Camsel wish to all of T&T a happy and peaceful Christmas.
Vernon Khelawan is media relations officer of Catholic Media Services Ltd, the official communications arm of the Archdiocese of Port-of-Spain. Its offices are located at 31 Independence Square. Telephone: 623-7620.