Living with God in our Republic

Archbishop Anthony Pantin’s Address for Republic Day which was broadcast on ‘Catholic Forum of the Air’

CN Sunday, Aug 8, 1976

Excerpts

Dearly beloved brothers and sisters,

Today our beloved country of Trinidad and Tobago became a republic within the Commonwealth. We now have a President instead of a Governor General representing the British sovereign and a new Constitution by which our country will doubtless be governed for many years.

Even though this momentous step has been in the offing for some time, it has taken most of us by surprise and there has been little preparation for the event. Nevertheless, we should be sufficiently mature by now to be able to face the situation with all the seriousness of purpose it clearly warrants and on this I would like to make a few comments.

1. NATIONAL UNITY

It is clear that a true sense of national pride is not yet in possession of all the million inhabitants of Trinidad and Tobago. We are not yet united as we should be. We do experience moments of unity, as for example, when we all united in acclaiming our first-ever Olympic gold medallist, Hasely Crawford. But these moments are relatively few and even when they do occur, they are not clearly devoid of political opportunism.

So, it is our duty to do everything in our power to foster this national unity because we are, for the most part, hopelessly separated by sectional interests, absorbed in a dog-eat-dog mentality, with those on top talking taking advantage of those below.

The question we have to ask ourselves is: is national unity a good thing?

2. SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY

Closely allied to national unity, in fact, one of its major ingredients, is a sense of responsibility.

More that ever before it is we ourselves who have to make our country what we want it to be. I am always more than a little  distressed when I hear people still blaming colonialism after 14 years of independence.

Let me repeat then, it is up to us to make of our country what we want it to be. So, perhaps, we could make up our minds just what we want our country to be.

I want my country to be

• A place where God is known, worshipped and served
• A place where men are treated like human beings and accepted as brothers
• A place where the stronger look after the weaker
• A place where leaders have earned the respect of their fellowmen through hard work, honesty and integrity
• A place where men are respected and not manipulated
• A place where the air is clean and the moral atmosphere uplifting
• A place where true human values have their rightful place
• A place where the search for material good is kept well in check and where power and prestige do not become gods
• A place where crime is punished in such a way as to secure the rehabilitation of the criminal.

I know that this sounds idealistic but, unless we have these ideals, we shall never have anything to aim at.

These ideals, the achievement of these ideals depends on each of us and our sense of responsibility.

Each of us must feel that our country depends on us and act accordingly. We must try to practice what we say we believe. We must believe that, whenever we act selfishly, without concern for the rights of other people, we are letting down Trinidad and Tobago. And we must begin with the little things which form the greater part of our daily lives: things like keeping the country clean, like driving properly, like patiently awaiting your turn in line, like helping blind people across the street, like teaching your children to say “please” and “thank you”, like doing your work to the best of your ability.

There is no doubt, right now, standards are low. It is also equally true our standards can be high. Why then must we settle for low standards?

If we were truly conscious of God’s fatherly interest in us, if we realized that God wants us to serve Him each moment of the day, in our work, our recreation, our sleep, our joys, our sorrows, if we were aware that He is looking at us all the time, that everything we think or say or do can be pleasing in His eyes, then surely this could make a very big difference in our lives.