2018 is Opportunity to ‘Do Right by All Men’

Leroy Flowers

2017 has truly flown by, so fast even we cannot believe it. News Five has brought you the good and the bad, the ups and the downs over the course of more than two hundred and fifty newscasts in 2017. And as we reflect on all the trials and triumphs over the past twelve months, we once again look forward to a fruitful year.  Reminded that with God as the anchor in our lives anything is possible, tonight, we end our final newscast for the year with remarks from Canon Leroy Flowers of the Anglican Diocese. Speaking at his home parish of St. Mary’s, he addressed both the year that was, in terms of addressing the general national malaise with the message of God, and the year to come, with a pointed call for the upcoming municipal elections.

Canon Leroy Flowers, Anglican Diocese

“It’s been a wonderful, challenging time. Of course we cannot escape the reality of the pain that I spoke about, of the many who have suffered, but we have also been very blessed in carrying out our mission and our ministry, in simply proclaiming the love and the goodness of God in this place, so that we stand as a beacon of hope in the midst of the hopelessness, the darkness that is so pervasive in this community at large. And that is our mission and we have sought to fulfill that. We are so grateful to Almighty God for giving us the opportunity to proclaim His love in this dark and bitter world that we are called to live in, but we must be the light and we will continue to be the light. And I trust that our people and the nation at large will heed the words from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter four, where it says whatsoever thing is right, what is excellent, those are the things that we are to do. Those in government, those in churches, those in civic society at large, we have a mission and ministry. This land and this country is so wonderful. But unless each and every one of us does our part – unless the civil servant, who is able to say to whoever comes to the desk, ‘No, that is not possible, that is not the rule, that is not the law, I cannot take a thousand dollars under the table to get it right for you’ – that is not what we are to do. We are to do right by all men, at all times. But we have to begin with our leaders; we cannot have leaders who will simply give support to those who are their members. We are about to enter this new year and there will be election time; unfortunately for Belize, it has been a time when elections are around that we debase each other. I am calling upon our leaders, particularly our Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, to challenge all their candidates to discuss and to debate the issues, but not personalities, if we want to build a better Belize and make 2018 a better year for all of us.”