Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Lectionary: 186
Lectionary: 186
In those days,
like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
and who falls asleep in your friendship.
like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
and who falls asleep in your friendship.
Responsorial Psalm PS 80:2AC AND 3B, 15-16, 18-19
R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your
face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
Take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
Take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Alleluia LK 3:4, 6
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
All flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
All flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MT 17:9A, 10-13
As they were coming
down from the mountain,
the disciples asked Jesus,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
the disciples asked Jesus,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
Meditation: "Elijah
must first come"
God gives signs to show what he is about to do.
John the Baptist is one such sign, who pointed to Jesus and prepared the way
for his coming. John fulfilled the essential task of all the prophets: to be
fingers pointing to Jesus Christ. John is the last and greatest prophet of the
old kingdom, the old covenant. The Jews expected that when the Messiah would
come, Elijah would appear to announce his presence. John fills the role of
Elijah and prepares the way for the coming of Jesus Christ by preaching a
baptism of repentance and renewal.
As watchful servants, we, too must prepare for
the Lord's coming again by turning away from sin and from everything that would
keep us from pursuing his will. Are you eager to do God's will and are you
prepared to meet the Lord Jesus when he returns in glory?
"Lord Jesus, stir my zeal for your
righteousness and for your kingdom. Free me from complacency and from
compromising with the ways of sin and worldliness that I may be wholeheartedly
devoted to you and to your kingdom."
 Bethlehem and the Cross |
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December 13,
2014. Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
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Matthew 17:9a,
10-13
As they were coming
down from the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say
that Elijah must come first?” He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and
restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did
not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son
of Man suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was
speaking to them of John the Baptist.
Introductory
Prayer: Lord, your disciples
sincerely tried to comprehend your identity and believe in you. I come before
you today with my doubts and problems, hoping to find in this prayer an
answer to my deepest aspirations. I want to believe with unwavering faith,
and I want to love you with a devout heart. I offer you this time of prayer
as my token of gratitude for all I have received from you.
Petition: Mary, help me to embrace God’s will in my life, just as
Christ embraced the Father’s plan for our salvation.
1. John the
Baptist as Elijah: Once again the
Gospel refers to John the Baptist as the one whose role is to prepare us for
the One who is to come. Through the prophet Malachi, the Jews expectation of
the return of Elijah, who will prepare the way for the promised Messiah, has
grown. But they have come to view him as a figure of great power, someone who
will sweep men away. So they fail to recognize Elijah’s presence in the
person of John the Baptist, whose only power is that of the Spirit of God,
calling all people to conversion of heart in order to receive the Christ. How
many times in my life do I fail to recognize the presence of Christ in my
life because I’m seeking something other than Christ’s promises to his
followers? Christ doesn’t offer an easy path of comfort and consolations.
2. Bethlehem and
the Cross: Why did Christ become
a helpless baby at Bethlehem? Why did he take on a fragile human body?
Precisely so he could suffer for us in order to redeem us. What does that
mean for our lives as Christians? It means nothing less than the fact that
suffering is a gift from God. It is the Father’s gentle caress, molding us
into the image of his Son. The cross is the source of our fruitfulness, not
only in our personal spiritual growth, but also in the mission to win graces
for others, for all of the souls God has mysteriously entrusted to our care.
3. Obedience unto
Death: Christ’s desire to embrace
suffering rose from his loving obedience to his Father’s plan, without condition
or limit. This loving obedience is what gives suffering its redemptive value.
From the moment of his birth at Bethlehem, Christ shows us what it means to
obey with love. Bethlehem is a school of obedience. In Bethlehem, Christ
teaches us that only a loving obedience frees, only loving obedience redeems
and sanctifies, only loving obedience enriches. Loving obedience alone saves,
loving obedience alone frees us from sin and loving obedience alone pleases
God. Let us embrace the cross of obedience in the challenging circumstances
of our daily lives, in the trials brought by the passing of years, in the
sorrow that afflicts us when God calls our loved ones back to him. Loving
obedience is the path to holiness, the way to the Father’s house.
Conversation with
Christ: Thank you, Lord, for
giving us a school of loving obedience at Bethlehem, throughout your life and
in your death on the cross. Help me to embrace suffering like you did and to
be confident in its power to make me holy and win graces for souls.
Resolution: I will seek to recognize God’s presence in my day by
patiently welcoming the suffering and trials he permits, so he can bring
about a greater good.
By Father Walter Schu, LC |
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, MATTHEW 17:9a, 10-13
(Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11; Psalm 80)
(Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11; Psalm 80)
KEY VERSE: "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things" (v 11).
READING: In Matthew's account of the Transfiguration, Jesus summoned his disciples "to the mountain" to reveal himself as the one who had full authority "in heaven and on earth" (Mt 28:16-18). The mountain was a unique place of God's revelation. Moses had received the law on Mount Sinai (Ex 20:1-17), and Elijah, defended the supremacy of Gods' covenant against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs 18:19-39). On the Mount of the Transfiguration, both Elijah and Moses appeared alongside Jesus revealing that he was the new prophet and liberator. After the vision, as Jesus and his disciples came down the mountain, Jesus' disciples asked him about the belief that Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah (Mal 3:1, 23). Jesus answered that John the Baptist had already come in the prophetic tradition of Elijah. John's preaching against those who perverted the moral teaching of God had fulfilled the expectation of Elijah's return.
REFLECTING: What is the moral corruption in my community that I must oppose?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, turn my heart to the truth that you teach.
Memorial of Lucy, virgin and martyr
Lucy ("bearer of light") was a wealthy, young Christian who vowed her life to Christ. Her mother, arranged a marriage for her, and for three years Lucy refused. To change her mother's mind, Lucy prayed at the tomb of St. Agatha, and her mother's hemorrhages were cured. Her mother agreed with Lucy's desire to live for God, and Lucy became known as a patron of those with similar illnesses. When Lucy rejected the pagan, Paschasius, he denounced her as a Christian. The governor planned to force her into prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her. Then the governor ordered her killed. After torture that included having her eyes torn out, she was stabbed to death. Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name led to her connection with maladies of the eyes.
Saturday 13 December 2014
St Lucy. Ecclesiasticus
48:1-4, 9-11 Lord, make us turn to you, let us see your face and we shall be
saved—Ps 79(80):2-3, 15-16, 18-19 Matthew 17:10-13.
Let your face shine on us
and we shall be safe.
The language of the Old
Testament is often colourful and dramatic. Today we have Elijah rising like a
fire and his word flaring like a torch. Jesus spoke in much more plain
language: his words were rooted in the here and now.
Do we often look for the
dramatic things—instant answers to our prayers or signs that Jesus is acting in
our life? Let us stop and recognise the small blessings that happen in our day,
like the phone call that comes when we are feeling down or the friendly ‘hello’
from the girl on her way to school.
Let us see these encounters
as ways Jesus is aware of and involved in our life and our needs.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
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What Really Counts
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As you do your Christmas shopping, remember that giving
experiences and memories is generally better than giving things.
December
13
St. Lucy
(d. 304)
St. Lucy
(d. 304)
Every little girl named Lucy must bite her tongue in
disappointment when she first tries to find out what there is to know about her
patron saint. The older books will have a lengthy paragraph detailing a small
number of traditions. Newer books will have a lengthy paragraph showing that
there is little basis in history for these traditions. The single fact survives
that a disappointed suitor accused Lucy of being a Christian and she was
executed in Syracuse (Sicily) in the year 304. But it is also true that her
name is mentioned in the First Eucharistic Prayer, geographical places are
named after her, a popular song has her name as its title and down through the
centuries many thousands of little girls have been proud of the name Lucy.
One can
easily imagine what a young Christian woman had to contend with in pagan Sicily
in the year 300. If you have trouble imagining, just glance at today’s
pleasure-at-all-costs world and the barriers it presents against leading a good
Christian life.
Her
friends must have wondered aloud about this hero of Lucy’s, an obscure
itinerant preacher in a far-off captive nation that had been destroyed more
than 200 years before. Once a carpenter, he had been crucified by the Roman
soldiers after his own people turned him over to the Roman authorities. Lucy
believed with her whole soul that this man had risen from the dead. Heaven had
put a stamp on all he said and did. To give witness to her faith she had made a
vow of virginity.
What a
hubbub this caused among her pagan friends! The kindlier ones just thought her
a little strange. To be pure before marriage was an ancient Roman ideal, rarely
found but not to be condemned. To exclude marriage altogether, however, was too
much. She must have something sinister to hide, the tongues wagged.
Lucy knew
of the heroism of earlier virgin martyrs. She remained faithful to their
example and to the example of the carpenter, whom she knew to be the Son of
God. She is the patroness of eyesight.
Comment:
If you are a little girl named Lucy, you need not bite your tongue in disappointment. Your patron is a genuine, authentic heroine, first class, an abiding inspiration for you and for all Christians. The moral courage of the young Sicilian martyr shines forth as a guiding light, just as bright for today’s youth as it was in A.D. 304.
If you are a little girl named Lucy, you need not bite your tongue in disappointment. Your patron is a genuine, authentic heroine, first class, an abiding inspiration for you and for all Christians. The moral courage of the young Sicilian martyr shines forth as a guiding light, just as bright for today’s youth as it was in A.D. 304.
Quote:
“The Gospel tells us of all that Jesus suffered, of the insults that fell upon him. But, from Bethlehem to Calvary, the brilliance that radiates from his divine purity spread more and more and won over the crowds. So great was the austerity and the enchantment of his conduct.”
“The Gospel tells us of all that Jesus suffered, of the insults that fell upon him. But, from Bethlehem to Calvary, the brilliance that radiates from his divine purity spread more and more and won over the crowds. So great was the austerity and the enchantment of his conduct.”
“So may it be with
you, beloved daughters. Blessed be the discretion, the mortifications and the
renouncements with which you seek to render this virtue more brilliant.... May
your conduct prove to all that chastity is not only a possible virtue but a
social virtue, which must be strongly defended through prayer, vigilance and
the mortification of the senses” (St. John XXIII, Letter to Women
Religious).
LECTIO DIVINA:
MATTHEW 17,10-13
Lectio:
Saturday, December 13, 2014
2nd Week of Advent
1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
let us never become indifferent
to the ardent message
which your Son speaks to us in the gospel
When we have become inattentive and uninvolved,
send us again prophets to wake us up
and to make us attentive again
to make your kingdom among us a reality
of love of you and of people,
of justice and serving love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 17, 10-13
And the disciples put this question to him, 'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'
He replied, 'Elijah is indeed coming, and he will set everything right again; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of man will suffer similarly at their hands.'
Then the disciples understood that he was speaking of John the Baptist.
3) Reflection
• The disciples have just seen Moses and Elijah before Jesus in the Transfiguration on the mountain (Mt 17, 3). In general, people believed that Elijah had to return to prepare the coming of the Kingdom. Prophet Malachi said: “Look, I shall send you the prophet Elijah before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes. He will reconcile parents to their children and children to their parents, to forestall my putting the country under the curse of destruction!” (Mal 3, 23-24; cf. Eccl. 48, 10). The disciples want to know: What does the teaching of the Doctors of the Law mean, when they say that Elijah has to come before?” Because Jesus, the Messiah, was already there, had already arrived, and Elijah had not come as yet. Which is the value of this teaching of the return of Elijah?
• Jesus answers: “Elijah has already come and they have not recognized him; rather, they have treated him as they have wanted. In the same way, they will also make the Son of Man suffer”. Then the Disciples understood that Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist.
• In that situation of Roman domination which disintegrated the clan and the familiar living together, people expected that Elijah would return to reconstruct the community: to reconcile the parents to their children and the children to their parents. This was the great hope of the people. Today also, the neo-liberal system of communism disintegrates the families and promotes the masses which destroy life.
• To reconstruct and remake the social fabric and the community living of the families is dangerous because it undermines the basis of the system of domination. This is why John the Baptist was killed. He had a project to reform human living together (cf. Lk 3, 7-14). He carried out the mission of Elijah (Lk 1, 17). This is why he was killed.
• Jesus continues the same mission of John: to reconstruct the life in community. Because God is Father, we are all brothers and sisters. Jesus joins together two loves: love toward God and love toward neighbour and makes them visible in the form of living together. This is why, like John, he was put to death. This is why Jesus, the Son of Man, will be condemned to death.
4) Personal questions
• Placing myself in the position of the disciples: does the ideology of consumerism have power over me?
• Placing myself in the position of Jesus: Do I have the force to react and to create a new human way of living together?
5) Concluding Prayer
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name. (Ps 80)
Lord our God,
let us never become indifferent
to the ardent message
which your Son speaks to us in the gospel
When we have become inattentive and uninvolved,
send us again prophets to wake us up
and to make us attentive again
to make your kingdom among us a reality
of love of you and of people,
of justice and serving love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 17, 10-13
And the disciples put this question to him, 'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'
He replied, 'Elijah is indeed coming, and he will set everything right again; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of man will suffer similarly at their hands.'
Then the disciples understood that he was speaking of John the Baptist.
3) Reflection
• The disciples have just seen Moses and Elijah before Jesus in the Transfiguration on the mountain (Mt 17, 3). In general, people believed that Elijah had to return to prepare the coming of the Kingdom. Prophet Malachi said: “Look, I shall send you the prophet Elijah before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes. He will reconcile parents to their children and children to their parents, to forestall my putting the country under the curse of destruction!” (Mal 3, 23-24; cf. Eccl. 48, 10). The disciples want to know: What does the teaching of the Doctors of the Law mean, when they say that Elijah has to come before?” Because Jesus, the Messiah, was already there, had already arrived, and Elijah had not come as yet. Which is the value of this teaching of the return of Elijah?
• Jesus answers: “Elijah has already come and they have not recognized him; rather, they have treated him as they have wanted. In the same way, they will also make the Son of Man suffer”. Then the Disciples understood that Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist.
• In that situation of Roman domination which disintegrated the clan and the familiar living together, people expected that Elijah would return to reconstruct the community: to reconcile the parents to their children and the children to their parents. This was the great hope of the people. Today also, the neo-liberal system of communism disintegrates the families and promotes the masses which destroy life.
• To reconstruct and remake the social fabric and the community living of the families is dangerous because it undermines the basis of the system of domination. This is why John the Baptist was killed. He had a project to reform human living together (cf. Lk 3, 7-14). He carried out the mission of Elijah (Lk 1, 17). This is why he was killed.
• Jesus continues the same mission of John: to reconstruct the life in community. Because God is Father, we are all brothers and sisters. Jesus joins together two loves: love toward God and love toward neighbour and makes them visible in the form of living together. This is why, like John, he was put to death. This is why Jesus, the Son of Man, will be condemned to death.
4) Personal questions
• Placing myself in the position of the disciples: does the ideology of consumerism have power over me?
• Placing myself in the position of Jesus: Do I have the force to react and to create a new human way of living together?
5) Concluding Prayer
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name. (Ps 80)
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