Advent Meditations: Thursday 13 December
| Thurs Dec 13 |
am: 18:1-20 pm: 126 |
Isa 7::1-9 | 2 Peter:3:1-10 | Luke 22:1-13 |
Feast of St. Lucy, Martyr of Syracuse, 304
ABOUT TODAY ON THE LITURGICAL CALENDAR : According to the traditional story, she was born to rich and noble parents about 283. Her father died when she was young. Fifty-two years prior to Saint Lucy, Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr was executed. Saint Agatha’s fame attracted many visitors to her relics at Catania. Lucy and her mother, Eutychia, made the pilgrimage, where Eutychia was healed of a hemorrhage. Lucy persuaded Eutychia to distribute a great part of their riches among the poor. This angered the young man to whom she was betrothed. He reported her as a Christian. She was executed by with sword in the year 303. She was first condemned to suffer the shame of prostitution but in the strength of God she stood unmovable and could not be dragged away to the place of shame. God also saved her from being set on fire. According to some stories, Saint Lucy’s eyes were plucked out during her torture and God miraculously restored her sight. Her feast day is celebrated especially in Sweden, where elements of light and sight, as well as the martyr’s crown, are combined in a beautiful family custom appropriate for Advent celebration
MEDITATION – In the lessons taken from the Common Worship Daily Lectionary- Year 1 appointed for today, we hear in first reading, that the king Ahaz and his people are given a privilege from YHWH, which would save them from the plot of Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah against them. God clearly says that Ahaz and the people need not fear this invasion, for it shall not happen. We are blessed to hear the words
offering a hopeful future promised by God through the Covenant.
Though this is written 7 centuries prior to the birth of Jesus , they hoped, and we now inherit a future that is guaranteed redemptive through a divinely appointed birth that is completely not in the expected context of kingship or royalty.
In this Advent season just as in the days of Israel God calls his people to believe His word and find security in troubling times, in this life, and in the life to come. These are words for us today in troubling times as it was then. In the fullness of time, God will send His Son again. This time he will not be born of the Virgin Mary; but is and will be Immanuel in the truest sense of the word. His birth 2000 years ago confirmed that His word was trustworthy and true. Now, faith in Him guarantees participation in the glorious future of peace and righteousness.
PRAYER: O Gracious Lord, whose servant Blessed Lucy demonstrated the light of faith without
counting the cost. Bestow upon us we pray light of faith, increase and preserve this light in our
souls so that we may avoid evil, be zealous in the in the faith, commit to acts of charity and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin. Amen
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE/ACTIVITY – This day in Advent is especially significant in Scandinavia and Italy where the day has traditionally been celebrated with bonfires, processions, and other illuminations. In Sicily St. Lucy, dressed in a blue cloak showered with stars, brings gifts to children on the eve of her feast day. One thing to do is to make the traditional bun known as , Lussekatt (“St. Lucia Bun”), which is made with saffron. Make some and share it with those who are hungry and cold.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “It is right to submit to a higher authority whenever a command of God would be violated.-St. Basil the Great
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