Corpus Christi Message

MEDIA RELEASE

June 14, 2017

Corpus Christi Message

To be the Body of Christ in Trinidad and Tobago

On behalf of the Ministry of Public Administration and Communication, I wish to extend best wishes to the Christian community as they commemorate one of the most significant feasts on their liturgical calendar – the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi is the longest celebrated religious feast in Trinidad and Tobago, dating back some 233 years. It represents for Catholics and Anglicans, in the main, the institution of the Holy Mass where the bread and wine given as gifts, are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, following his admonition to “do this in memory of me.”

The significance of the feast is not lost upon us as citizens today, where all of us are called, irrespective of our station in life and where we might be located, to demonstrate the values of love, forgiveness, compassion and sacrifice, and in so doing be the Body of Christ for each other.

It is perhaps fortuitous that one of the songs often used in these Corpus Christi celebrations “To be the Body of the Lord in this World” was composed by none other than Fr. Clyde Harvey who, through his recent ordeal, has challenged us as a society, to reflect on how we can be the Body of the Lord in our own circumstances. In that song, he calls on all to be the eyes and ears of God, and to demonstrate the love of God to all people.

Traditionally associated with planting, it is my fervent prayer, that sometime during the course of our commemorating this Feast, we will join with the Christian community and make a commitment to be better stewards of the gifts with which we have been blessed, and to plant the seeds of love, respect and tolerance for each other.

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