A message of hope at Christmas

Christmas message from Verla De Peiza, president, Democratic Labour Party:

My fellow Barbadians, once again I come to you to bring you a message of Christmas.

As we all know, this is a time that we reflect upon the greatest gift ever given to mankind. It is a time where the world pauses and acknowledges peace, love and goodwill given to all men. It is a time when families across the world gather around for the exchange of gifts, reflection on the year just past, and the renewal of their hope in the future.

We all can agree that this has been a difficult time for families, at home and abroad. It has been a season of great loss for many. Families have lost family members. Families have lost income and families have lost jobs. And at this time, the very hope that the season symbolises with the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ has been diminished with this season of losses.

The social fallout from prolonged curfews and restrictions has tested our mental strength, strained our family connections and stretched the very cords of our resilience. The fabric of our society is frayed at every corner.

This season of hardship has also seen us lose many sons and daughters either through COVID-19 or just from the social fallout triggered by the struggles of our society.

National anger is at a high as our citizens have become desperate to make ends meet. They are desperate to maintain peace in their homes and communities, and desperate to safeguard the lives of their loved ones either from COVID-19 or violence.

This disruption of the ordinary peace has threatened the message of Christmas which, as I said earlier, is a message of hope, a message of joy and a message of peace.

So now, my fellow citizens, as we contemplate the days, months and years ahead, we must continue to ask ourselves whether or not we will be able to truly embrace the real spirit of Christmas.

We are a nation of faith, and we know that the birth, and resurrection, of our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s ultimate gift, gives us hope. We must not allow the circumstances of these times to shake our confidence in God’s greatest gift to us. We know that we must continue to embrace and advance the true spirit of who we are as Barbadians. We know that we must press on and press ahead.

The Democratic Labour Party knows that collectively, we will work to remove any obstacles that stand in our way.

God bless Barbados and God bless us all.