I long for a lucid Christmas: Canadian Archbishop

Canada, 5 December 2013: Archbishop Paul-André Durocher, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, wished all a 'lucid' Christmas, in his Christmas Message 2013 released on Thursday. He said that the word ‘lucid’ comes from the Latin 'lucidus', illuminated, well-lit, and that it applies well to the Christmas season.

However, 'lucid' is also said of a person who is conscious, alert and perceptive. We cannot celebrate Christmas lucidly when we lock ourselves up in a romantic fantasy bubble that blinds itself to the reality that surrounds us. A lucid Christmas does not close its eyes to the desperate poverty of so many people in our world. A lucid Christmas does not forget a neighbour's depressing loneliness nor a cousin's emotional pain. It does not hide from youth's concerns about the future and old age's regrets about the past.

To celebrate Christmas with lucidity means reaching out to others, especially the unloved and the forgotten. It means opening your heart and wallet to share your small wealth with those who have even less. It means carrying in mind and in prayer the victims of natural storms - hurricanes and earthquakes - and human storms - wars and terrorism - that afflict so many parts of our global village. It means refusing to get carried away by the extravagance of a consumerism that only sees in this time of year an opportunity to max out the cash registers.

Yes, I long for a lucid Christmas, concluded the Archbishop, enlightened by the Father who said 'Let there be light"; by the Son, 'the morning star come to visit us"; and by the Spirit dwelling in us as "tongues of fire". May our own lucidity, purified by the grace that comes from above, allow our world to shine a bit with this kingdom of justice, peace and joy that the child of the manger came to inaugurate among us. Source: VR Sedoc