By Vernon Khelawan

The participation by Catholics in the recent Holy Week liturgies should remove any doubt about the depth and strength of our Catholic identity.

Usually on Good Friday, there are many public depictions of Jesus Christ’s journey to Calvary, by way of the age-old Stations of the Cross, but more recently, there has been an increasing number of notable attempts in parishes throughout the Archdiocese to reenact that walk in a way that attempts to transport pilgrims back to Roman times.

Catholic Culture and Identity, therefore, was placed at the forefront of the nation’s psyche, buoyed by the extensive media coverage of the various reenactments in both the electronic and print media, inclusive of interviews with the actors.

Catholics need to understand the importance of fearlessly practising their faith, in spite of the constraints which rear their ugly heads from time to time. Pilgrimages, for example, must not only be organised during the Lenten season, they should be a year-round activity – an important display of Catholic identity.

This year’s liturgies were marked by the involvement of a large number of our young people, many moved with a desire to participate in the reenactments. The harnessing of this youth power requires much mentoring, massaging of ideas, some thinking outside the box and determination. The latent capacity is just lying there waiting to be unleashed.