Fr Harvey spat on

TEARS AND PRAYERS of compassion flowed from hundreds of devoted Christians at the San Fernando Hill Good Friday pilgrimage yesterday, even as a “mentally disturbed” man exclaimed that there were not enough prayers forthcoming to heal the ills plaguing the country. The man, identified only as Mario, blatantly shouted, “All of you are hypocrites, you only say that you are praying for the homeless, the country and all other issues plaguing this land, but not actually carrying it out. Where is this country heading? No one cares about anything and anybody.”

Initially the outburst was terrifying to the devotees, but Mario ended up achieving his goal — which was for people to truly and honestly pray from the depths of their hearts for people who are in distress, the crime situation, and sicknesses plaguing the land. The drama unfolded around 7.45 am yesterday, minutes before Father Clyde Harvey was to deliver his Good Friday homily. The man, Mario, sprang from the crowd and blurted out insults to the gathered Christians, and when he was approached by Fr Harvey to make peace, Mario spat on him. Mario, whose behaviour did not ease up, was eventually subdued by seven male volunteers, one of which was the Environmental Management Agency’s (EMA) Corporate Communications Officer, Kirk Jean-Baptiste.

In the process, Jean-Baptiste was head-butted and bitten on his left forearm by Mario. The man was then forced to lie on the grass while he was surrounded by the RC church’s women prayer warriors, who, on the request from Fr Harvey, laid hands on him and fervently prayed until he was calm. In his homily, Fr Harvey said the incident did not occur by accident, “For the seven years, this year eight, we have prayed for this country and we see that things have gone downward.” He asked, “Are our prayers working? Are our prayers a waste of time? Are there any people in this country that are sincerely laying down their lives for the country?” “Mario was right when he called you and I hypocrites. We are all a bunch of hypocrites in some way or the other,” Fr Harvey said.

“I don’t blame satan, but I blame us because we are the ones responsible for what we have become as a society.” Fr Harvey asked that the Lord raise up men and women with the God-given abilities to heal the land. “We pray, especially for our young men, those who have died in recent months, they are mostly labelled as criminals, but some of those died because they were standing up for what was right “They wanted to move on from a life of crime, but the life of crime would not let them go,” Fr Harvey said.

At yesterday’s procession on the hill, one had the privilege of witnessing, for the first time in eight years, the re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The play was performed by the youths of the church. Hundreds of devout Christians gathered from as early as 5 am to join the journey up the hill, led by Fr Harvey. It was also the first time that Fr Harvey did not carry the cross on his shoulders as a symbol of Jesus’ carrying of his cross on the way to Golgotha, where he was crucified.