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Newsday Reporter
PRIME MINISTER Stuart Young’s Easter prayer is that we all renew our acceptance responsibility to TT and work together as patriots in the best interest of our beloved twin-island Republic.
In his Easter message on April 19, Young said, “Today, Easter Sunday, we continue to share with the Christian community the commemoration of Holy Week – from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to his glorious resurrection.”
Easter Sunday, he said, is seen by Christians as the start of a new beginning and an opportunity for redemption.
“Across the world, the Easter tradition, is a time of celebration, elation and praise, coming after Lent – the period of 40 days of penitence, reflection and fasting.”
The underlying message of Holy Week, Young said, is that each one of us should be reminded that we are not alone on this earth, and there should always be a sense of hope – opportunities for new beginnings and the writing of new chapters.
He lamented that in despondency, we may have at times, reached a point when we have asked ourselves: Does my life have any meaning? Is humanity getting any better? Will our lives lead, ultimately, to anything meaningful?
These, he said, are age-old questions, which are answered when Christ reminds us that the Kingdom of God resides within us.
Young said we all can make a change in our lives, “because we were born with free will.”
“We determine our individual paths in life and can make a decision for a fresh start. To reject evil. To reject misinformation and the attempts that are made by some to mislead us away from our good senses with false promises which we know cannot be fulfilled without harmful consequences.
“We hold the power, within us, to change our lives, to live with civility and politeness, to show care, commitment, trust, responsibility, empathy and respect for each other.
“We can nurture a new inter-connectedness with each other and an appreciation for our similarities and differences. I ask us, as a people, to embrace each other and to have a singular purpose of ensuring that our TT reaches its fullest potential as ‘a rising tide lifts all vessels.’”
Young said he would request that State-owned media start a series of “non-partisan discussions on national issues in which a cross-section of people, can discuss their views freely, without heated contention, on a mixture of topics such as civic values, an exploration of family life, discipline, civil behaviour, tolerance in public spaces, our religious streams, our diversity, our cultural/artistic expressions, historical experiences, national economic challenges, innovation and artificial intelligence among other issues.”
This, he said, can be a platform, another possible path to self-discovery, a new beginning in our country, which, hopefully, will complement, in some way, that vision laid down by Christ.
“Let us during our celebration contemplate this new beginning that Christ talks about. It will require that we re-visit the concept of love in which we display, fully and genuinely, an emotional regard not just for our family and loved ones but for all our fellow citizens,” he said.
