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Roman Catholic priest Fr David Khan
A CALL has been made for society’s leaders, including politicians, to be truthful at all times.
In addition to being truthful, Fr David Khan – during his half-hour Corpus Christi homily – called for an end to hypocrisy as he admonished politicians for being untruthful, called on journalists to stick to the truth and lamented that some Catholics were coming to church for selfish reasons.
Speaking at the Our Lady of Perpetual Hope RC Church, San Fernando on Thursday, Khan underscored that adhering to the truth is critical to the worship and teachings of Jesus Christ. He said that being more like Christ, individuals and nations can be healed.
“If we are here today to celebrate the Eucharist and the glory, we have to remember that we first and foremost need to be people of truth. That is Christ himself,” he said.
Among those Khan singled out for faltering in this duty were politicians, especially those who claim to be Christians. “Politicians, various leaders say things to us and it is recorded and then after they say they never say it. When you play the recording, they damn lie!”
“But we know Jesus Christ was a man of truth. That is why we need to fashion ourselves in the person of Christ. We really need to be the Corpus of Christ because this is the truth.” He said journalists need to ensure their writing and reporting are true.
“You need to be responsible because your speaking is frozen in written words. Are you making a situation better or worse? You can correct, you can point out flaws but what are you doing?” Khan’s appeal did not end there, as he took aim at some Catholics whom he said came to church for selfish reasons.
“We are coming to the Lord but we are not coming as people of faith. We coming for different reasons. I going to hit hard now eh. Because we want our children to be first communion, we preparing them in Catholic school so whenever they write their SEA (Secondary Entrance Assessment) exams, we can put them on the 20 per cent list and hopefully, we would take them into our Catholic prestige secondary schools. That is not Eucharistic glory. That is a damn lie!
“There are many young people who say, ‘we Catholic long time’ and therefore all of a sudden you see them here in church. Since confirmation they not in church and then they hit you with a form (saying) I want to get into teaching in our Catholic schools.”
Khan lamented that when these very people get to teach in (Catholic-run) schools, they often refuse to teach the religion, sometimes openly opposing its practices. “That is not Eucharistic glory. That is a damn lie!”
He also slammed some for spending large sums on exquisite events like fetes but being unable to even give one dollar to the church.
“The front of the church is always empty because we really don’t understand Eucharistic glory. But let it be a concert, a fete and you spending hundreds and thousands of dollars because ‘I want to be in VIP,’ and we have a new position now called VVIP.
“You saving your money and the greatest spectacle in all of human history is taking place on every Catholic altar but yet still we stay far.”
For this sentiment, Khan a standing ovation from the hundred-plus gathering.
He called for an end to this kind of hypocrisy and assured the church was there to accept these people and show them Christ’s way.In his address, the priest also asked worshippers to look within themselves to ensure they are being the best person they can be.
“We have to not look at others. We have to start taking a closer look at ourselves. In looking at ourselves, we have to really ask ourselves the question: ‘the things that I do, is it the best of myself?’ Each day, if you give your best, that is the best version of yourself. That is what we are being called to do.”
