Thursday, December 20, 2007
Celebrate Christmas daily, Cardinal urges Cebuanos
CHRISTMAS can also be the birthday of the Cebuanos if they will keep Cebu true to its name as the “cradle of Christianity” in the country.
These are the words of Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, in his short message for Christmas.
In a statement, the prelate stressed that Christmas need not be celebrated for only a day or for a season.
“Christmas can be everyday—a day and a time to say, ‘I love you,’ ‘Thank you,’ ‘I am sorry,’ ‘Please help me,’ but in more concrete, concerned ways,” he said.
Since Dec. 16, when he started celebrating Misa de Gallo in selected parishes in Metro Cebu, Vidal has enumerated some of these concrete ways as the Catholic flock continues to celebrate Christmas.
Responsibility
In his first dawn mass, he asked churchgoers to take responsibility for their actions, like the dumping of fetuses in the trash. He also urged parents to take the example of the Holy Family in raising their children with the Christian lifestyle.
The prelate also asked the flock to reach out to the sick, needy, poor and the prisoners this Christmas.
While he considers it good news that Christians never get tired of celebrating Christmas, he is also saddened by the bad news that “we never learn its message.”
“Once more, therefore, let us resolve, this time to contemplate the face of Jesus, not only in the Bible, where he is laid in the manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, but also in the lives of real people who are still hungry or thirsty or homeless or naked or ill or in prison,” said Vidal.
“Remember: Christmas is not only Jesus’ birthday. It can be our birthday, too, if only we, Cebuanos, keep Cebu the cradle of Christianity always a beautiful place to be born in to and only a better people to grow up in it,” he added. (NRC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (December 20, 2007 issue)
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