After a relatively brief Carnival season, the streets of our nation will become on Monday and Tuesday the stage for the masquerader, a venue for the band watcher and the meeting place for friends.

“The road make to walk on Carnival days,” insisted the bard Lord Kitchener. But even before that, the fetes, shows, calypso tents would have drawn many thousands seeking to be part of the celebrations.

The music, colour and excitement of Carnival find a natural avenue in the television medium, in particular. The media, “the means of social communication”, as the Church often terms them, are vehicles for Carnival but Carnival itself is a tool of communication.

Alongside the media and other aspects of the environment, Carnival and all that contributes to it shape the culture of the Trinidad and Tobago society, affecting the life of our people, perhaps much more than at first may seem obvious.

There is much that is good in Carnival. It is a showcase for art, music and street theatre. It provides an opportunity for celebration and an opportunity for solidarity. Within our panyards and mas camps there is much that speaks about caring and community building.

But the season also throws up much that is negative and that does not contribute to life. Often what passes for entertainment is short-sighted self-indulgence that sees no further than the exuberance of the moment.

Caring for our children and a concern for the future of the mas, give way to the business of mas and profitability. Art is often upstaged by the vulgar.

Because of what Carnival means to the life of the nation, a critical evaluation needs to be done on how the festivity impacts upon our culture. The Church in the Pastoral Instruction Aetatis Novae (AN) describes the application of communications technology as a “mixed blessing”.

What is true of the recognised means of social communication must surely be also true of Carnival.

An informed Christian conscience

It is important to look at the possibilities for good that Carnival presents, but it is also necessary to see the ways in which the festivity may “exacerbate individual and social problems which stand in the way of human solidarity and the integral development of the human person” (AN art.13).

In what ways does our Carnival entrench secular values and goals? Within Carnival lies the possibility – if we remain faithful to its history and tradition – of enriching the human spirit, of giving self-expression in song, drama and dance a necessary channel.

The Church  called to make the kingdom of God real in the lives of people – to further the mission of Christ – must indicate the path to be taken. It can do so most effectively through its members, many of whom participate in the celebrations.

The Christian attitude must confront the pluralistic value system which makes it okay for each individual to do what brings him or her self-satisfaction.

An informed Christian conscience is needed today as never before to aid the individual in properly discerning right from wrong and making the kinds of decisions that will aid human development.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus begins what is traditionally called the Sermon on the Mount. He identifies those qualities that bring about blessing, but also presents his followers with the characteristics that mark out the true disciple.

In the following verses Jesus turns pointedly to his followers and says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? …You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5: 13.14).

The mandate to transform the secular culture has been given.