Roman Catholics, Muslims and Hindus prayed and fasted for the nation yesterday, a day dubbed “A Day of Prayer”.
RC Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon collaborated with the Inter-Religious Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (IRO) for the Day of Prayer and Fasting (April 8) for Peace and Human Development.
“We continue to work because this country really, really needs the IRO, something or some entity to keep our people together,” president of the IRO Pandit Lloyd Mukram Sirjoo said.
The day came while the three religions were already worshipping and fasting for other spiritual reasons — Muslims, for the month of Ramadan, Roman Catholics for Lent and Hindus for Chaitra Navratri.
But the IRO is made up of several other religions, all of whom were alerted about the day.
Pandit Sirjoo said when he got the call on March 8 for the National Day of Prayer and Fasting, he immediately agreed.
He said there are many things that the nation and, by extension, the world, has to pray for and while all issues/topics may not be covered in one day, it was a start.
“The question of domestic violence, gender-based violence… we have to have an all-inclusive prayer to remove all the negative in society and when we pray, we should not be finite with our own situation here in Trinidad, we have to look at internationally what is happening, we are still in the pandemic,” he said.
Every hour from 6 am to 6 pm yesterday, members of the Roman Catholic Church prayed for different topics which were announced in church and on the Archdiocese of Port-of-Spain’s Facebook page.
During 8 am and 9 am, they prayed for church/religious bodies and the Government, from 9 am to 10 am for the nation and the nations of the world and from 10 am to 11 am, for inter-racial and inter-religious harmony.
Vicar General Father Martin Sirju said they also had a mercy hour, since it’s an important topic for all three religions.
“We pray that we will be more merciful towards each other and I think if we excel in mercy and just our country will look much better than it is,” he said.
But some worshippers had their own reasons to pray and fast.
“Crime is a very wide thing especially in this country…every day in the news you’re hearing that somebody is being killed,” Nevan Decoteau said.
“I pray for peace within my soul and my surrounding, I pray for peace to take over us in Jesus’ name,” Mary Paria said.
The Vicar General said the day of prayer was not only to offer devotion to God but also to give people hope.
“We’ve heard certain expressions many times like a failed state, the alleged remarks from the president of Guyana Trinidad and Tobago falling apart, this is our way of saying no,” he said.
He said T&T can’t give up and the least the country can do is pray and act together, which was done yesterday.
