Op­po­si­tion Leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les is call­ing for faith, uni­ty and re­newed hope dur­ing what she has de­scribed as “a sea­son of both re­flec­tion and chal­lenge.”

She made the call as she ex­tend­ed warm Christ­mas greet­ings to the na­tion yes­ter­day.

“Christ­mas re­minds us that hope is nev­er ex­tin­guished, not even in the dark­est hour,” Beck­les said, re­flect­ing on the birth of the Christ Child in her Christ­mas Day mes­sage.

“He came not in­to com­fort or cer­tain­ty, but in­to hu­mil­i­ty, chal­lenge and tri­al. From that hum­ble be­gin­ning came a promise of light over­com­ing dark­ness.”

Ac­knowl­edg­ing the dif­fi­cul­ties many fam­i­lies face, Beck­les said, “We are liv­ing through a pe­ri­od of pro­found un­cer­tain­ty. Job loss­es, ris­ing liv­ing costs and eco­nom­ic stag­na­tion weigh heav­i­ly on our peo­ple. For many, this Christ­mas feels par­tic­u­lar­ly dif­fi­cult.”

She al­so urged cit­i­zens to em­brace com­mu­ni­ty and com­pas­sion.

“Let us re­turn to the tra­di­tions of ‘it takes a vil­lage.’ Reach out to those who are less for­tu­nate. Give with kind­ness from the heart,” she said.

Beck­les drew in­spi­ra­tion from lo­cal fes­tive tra­di­tions.

“Like the par­ran­deros spread­ing joy through parang mu­sic, let us use this sea­son to be kinder, to be our neigh­bour’s keep­er, and to be more char­i­ta­ble.”

On the na­tion­al and re­gion­al stage, Beck­les cau­tioned, “Small Is­land states are vul­ner­a­ble when glob­al ten­sions rise. We must choose peace over dis­cord and uni­ty over di­vi­sion, both at home and in our re­la­tion­ships with­in Cari­com.”

Beck­les of­fered a heart­felt bless­ing to the coun­try.

“May the peace of Christ dwell in your homes. May strength be re­newed in your spir­its. May love and hope guide our beloved Trinidad and To­ba­go for­ward.

“On be­half of the Op­po­si­tion and from my fam­i­ly to yours, I wish the na­tion a blessed and mer­ry Christ­mas.”