Senior Reporter
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
Archbishop Jason Gordon has asserted that too many inflated egos have created problems within Trinidad and Tobago.
In his homily during Easter Sunday mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Port-of-Spain yesterday, the Archbishop said many people had been led astray by the allure of power and command.
“If there is a challenge in our country today, it is we have gone the way of ego. We have gone the way of ego, even in our prayers you hear the ego, even in our families, we hear the ego. Who is the top dog and who is not, who calling shots and who is not, who giving command and who is not.
“And the ego is killing us because as we fill ourselves with ego, all we do is give many, many handles for us to be pulled into the darkness and into the mire and that squalor that we experience in society today. That’s all we’re doing.”
Noting that these ego-driven individuals had contributed to the crime and violence in the country, the Archbishop said, “The way out of this darkness that we are facing right now, the darkness of domestic violence, the darkness of murders we have experienced, the darkness of the crime that is rising, the darkness that we are feeling in the recklessness of our living, the only way out of this darkness, brothers and sisters, is through the light of the resurrection to shine its light brightly upon Trinidad and Tobago today.
“For that light to shine, you and I have to empty ourselves of our ego and seek the truth of Jesus Christ and seek all that he asks of us.”
He called on the congregation to heed Jesus Christ’s example, when he opted to wash the feet of his disciples before his death as a way to learn and show humility.
The Archbishop explained that Jesus Christ, in that moment, showed leadership through his humility.
The Archbishop said, “He understood that a leader is here to serve, brother and sisters, that is the power of the resurrection at work in our life today.”
He said if more people adopted this practice, several of the ills facing the country would lessen.
“Have you realised the more you go for ego, the less happy your life is, have you realised that?” the Archbishop asked the congregation.
He pointed out that at a Holy Thursday mass held at the Prison, the message of Christ resonated with acting Commissioner of Prisons Deopersad Ramoutar and an inmate following the service.
“At the end of that mass, the prison commissioner came to speak. He had a prepared text, he put it aside and he said what I witnessed today moved me deeply. It moved me so deeply that I want to say something today. ‘I want to say that in the 35 years I have been a prison officer, anyway that I have hurt anyone, officers and inmates, I am sorry and I apologise’. You could have heard a pin drop,” said the Archbishop, who then explained an inmate followed his lead.
“And then one of the baddest men in the prisoners came forward and said ‘I have been here for many years and I have never seen anything like this. And for whatever I may have done, I am sorry, I apologise’.”