St. Lucy, virgin and martyr

You cannot bend my will to your purpose;

whatever you do to my body, that cannot happen to me.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11

Then came the prophet Elijah,

Like a fire, his words a burning torch.

He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number.

Speaking in the name of the Lord he closed the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire.

How marvelous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal?

 

You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses.

It was written that you should be the one to calm God's anger in the future,

before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live.

 

 

Ps 80:2ac & 3b, 15-16, 18-19 

Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

And as they came down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen,

until the Son of Man be raised from the dead. The disciples asked him,

"Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus answered, "So it is: first comes Elijah;

and he will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come; and they did not recognize him;

and they treated him as they pleased. And they will also make the Son of Man suffer."

Then the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Let us see your face and we shall be saved."

Malachi 4:5-6 tells of the return of Elijah in preparation for the Day of the Lord.

Elijah's task was to bring harmony, that the Lord might bless his people and not curse them.

Now, Jesus the Lord has visited his people, and he declares that Elijah has come in the person of John the Baptist.

The task of John, the new Elijah, was to preach repentance so that

in a restored harmony the people might look to the Lord once again and be saved.

 

In the psalm we pray, "let us see your face and we shall be saved." We are to seek the Lord and his merciful gaze.

This is what Advent is about. It should also be the constant attitude of the Christian, as exemplified by the saints.

Saint Lucy was a virgin martyr of the early Church from Sicily. Lucy,

whose name means "light", refused to turn away from the Lord.

Some accounts of her martyrdom say that she was blinded during her torture before dying by the sword.

Lucy, in the darkness of her suffering, clung to the true light, who is Christ.

She looked for Christ's face, knowing that in him is our salvation.