In these days of spiralling violence in Trinidad and Tobago and in Bartica, Guyana, the two water cisterns that have long dominated the troubled Laventille hills present a rich symbol for our country’s reflection on this Third Sunday of Lent.

They may lead us in an honest consideration of the problems that afflict us. While people commit crimes for a variety of reasons, it seems reasonable to posit that those who commit crime are doing so because a need is not being met – a thirst is not being satisfied. But the trouble in Laventille, other parts of our country, and in Guyana suggests that criminals are not the only ones dying of thirst.

Leaders will have to make a greater attempt to listen to the voices of the nation’s youth if they are going to be able to satisfy their longing or to help them to make sense of their lives. In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus wearied by his journey sits down at a well and meets the Samaritan woman.

In the dialogue that follows, the woman comes to a realisation of her need as Jesus reveals the secrets of her heart. So moved is she that she goes to fellow Samaritans to share her experiences with them so they too can have their thirsts satisfied.

But, leaders can only serve those whom they have been called to lead – show them to the waters that bring life – if they themselves have been satisfied. Can it be that those who pretend to lead our young people are more concerned with lording it over them and have been sacrificing principles for popularity?

Have they been more concerned with making a public show of their work rather than building relationships of trust with the youth they seek to serve? Have they been attempting to make their authority felt rather than seeking to become true servants?

An opportunity for renewal

For all of us, the cisterns atop the hills stand as a reminder that among us lie the means to satisfy the thirst. In the Gospel story, Jesus is the one who satisfies the Samaritan’s desire for new life. Her friends and relations to whom she goes in her enthusiasm must come themselves to meet Jesus and to rely on his word.

This Lenten season is an opportunity for Catholics and all those who have already heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, to consider whether selfish goals have been directing our lives?

The Lenten discipline and its graces bring the opportunity for changing course and for renewal so that we may be able to transmit the kind of values that will be beneficial to the youth among us and to inspire them to seek after those values that bring true life.

In the present bewildering circumstances, it may be that some will be tempted to ask the question we find at the end of today’s First Reading from the Book of Exodus: “Is the Lord with us, or not?” We cannot give in to doubt and despondency. Christ is able to identify our real needs and to satisfy them.

In this time of difficulty our leaders – and here we include the media since they enjoy a certain power – have an opportunity to act to save our youth and our country.

We argue that this is possible even in this time of discouragement, that now there is the opportunity for people of integrity to act courageously and that it is possible to save our country from what must be a dangerous precipice.