Virgin and Martyr
Biographical Information about St. Lucy[1]
Readings for Thursday of the Second Week of Advent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 41:13-20
In this selection from the Book of Isaiah (now in the section called Deutero-Isaiah) we find part of the Hymn of Cyrus, Champion of Justice. In the first part of the passage, the oracle speaks of God’s tenderness and love for his people, calling himself the redeemer of Israel. He will make the nation strong (conquerors will break upon them like the harvest against the threshing sledge).
In the second section, God sings his hopes and plans for Israel. He will answer their call at need and will not forsake them.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise. These strophes (because it is in the acrostic form – each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet) although loosely assembled, praise God for his mercy and compassion and give thanks for His creation and redemption.
Gospel Matthew 11:11-15
We recall the description St. Matthew gives of St. John the Baptist in Matthew 3:4 ff. His description matched that of the one given to Elijah who was anticipated to return at the time when the Messiah was to come. That image is used again in this passage as Jesus tells the people, as great as St. John is, those who hear and accept the message of the Kingdom of God will be exalted in heaven.
Homily:
Just when we find ourselves looking forward to the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas, Holy Scripture directs our attention to God’s bigger plan and the return of the Lord, when he comes again. The Prophet Isaiah envisions the God of mercy and compassion who hears the cry of the poor and reaches out to them as a Father to a crying child. All their needs shall be satisfied, He will never forsake them.
Echoing the vision of Isaiah, Jesus makes sure we remember the Father sent John the Baptist, the very figure of Elijah, to announce the coming of the fulfillment of that promise. The Lord almost asks the rhetorical question; “Don’t you see it?” as he concludes this message with the statement “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
The very tone of the Gospel today makes it clear that this journey we are directed to will not be an easy one. The vigor of this dialogue says loads. We hear the Lord almost pleading with us to embrace the vision of the plan God lays out for us.
As if to emphasize this point, our celebration today memorializes St. Lucy. In the third century, this young lady dedicated herself to God. With all the obstacles imaginable arrayed against her she persevered. These trials started with her own mother, until the virgin’s prays invited the miraculous intervention of God who cured her of a hemorrhage and converted her to the faith as well, and ending with a spurned suitor handing her over to torture and death, she was faithful to her call.
Her example of faith in the face of extreme opposition coupled with the exhortation of scripture to cling to our faith in the Lord is the message we receive today when all of the distractions of the secular world reach out for us. May we too stay the course and come at last to the promise of our Heavenly Father.
Pax
[1] The picture today is “St. Lucy” by Domenico Beccafumi, 1521
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
Biographical Information about St. Lucy[1]
Readings for Thursday of the Second Week of Advent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Isaiah 41:13-20
In this selection from the Book of Isaiah (now in the section called Deutero-Isaiah) we find part of the Hymn of Cyrus, Champion of Justice. In the first part of the passage, the oracle speaks of God’s tenderness and love for his people, calling himself the redeemer of Israel. He will make the nation strong (conquerors will break upon them like the harvest against the threshing sledge).
In the second section, God sings his hopes and plans for Israel. He will answer their call at need and will not forsake them.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise. These strophes (because it is in the acrostic form – each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet) although loosely assembled, praise God for his mercy and compassion and give thanks for His creation and redemption.
Gospel Matthew 11:11-15
We recall the description St. Matthew gives of St. John the Baptist in Matthew 3:4 ff. His description matched that of the one given to Elijah who was anticipated to return at the time when the Messiah was to come. That image is used again in this passage as Jesus tells the people, as great as St. John is, those who hear and accept the message of the Kingdom of God will be exalted in heaven.
Homily:
Just when we find ourselves looking forward to the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas, Holy Scripture directs our attention to God’s bigger plan and the return of the Lord, when he comes again. The Prophet Isaiah envisions the God of mercy and compassion who hears the cry of the poor and reaches out to them as a Father to a crying child. All their needs shall be satisfied, He will never forsake them.
Echoing the vision of Isaiah, Jesus makes sure we remember the Father sent John the Baptist, the very figure of Elijah, to announce the coming of the fulfillment of that promise. The Lord almost asks the rhetorical question; “Don’t you see it?” as he concludes this message with the statement “Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
The very tone of the Gospel today makes it clear that this journey we are directed to will not be an easy one. The vigor of this dialogue says loads. We hear the Lord almost pleading with us to embrace the vision of the plan God lays out for us.
As if to emphasize this point, our celebration today memorializes St. Lucy. In the third century, this young lady dedicated herself to God. With all the obstacles imaginable arrayed against her she persevered. These trials started with her own mother, until the virgin’s prays invited the miraculous intervention of God who cured her of a hemorrhage and converted her to the faith as well, and ending with a spurned suitor handing her over to torture and death, she was faithful to her call.
Her example of faith in the face of extreme opposition coupled with the exhortation of scripture to cling to our faith in the Lord is the message we receive today when all of the distractions of the secular world reach out for us. May we too stay the course and come at last to the promise of our Heavenly Father.
Pax
[1] The picture today is “St. Lucy” by Domenico Beccafumi, 1521
[2] After Links to Readings Expire
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