Homily: Feast of St. Lucy

Feast of St. Lucy (Mt. 21:28-32) “May the Light Pierce the Darkness”

St. Lucy (283-304) is one of the virgin martyrs of the early church. She is mentioned in the first Eucharistic prayer. As a young girl Lucy decided to dedicate herself completely to God. She wanted Jesus as her spouse.

Her parents had the dream of many parents at this time in Roman history. They wanted their daughter to marry above her station. Marriages were arranged and were a way for a family to gain social status. Lucy did not want to cooperate with the system.

Lucy’s parents were not happy with this, and neither were the civil authorities. The emperor even got involved. He sent his soldiers to Lucy’s house to carry her off to the house of her intended groom. Legend has it that two soldiers could not pick her up to move her nor could a team of horses drag her away.

Another legend related how Lucy had very beautiful eyes. These were attractive to her suiters. For this reason she gouged out her eyes so she would be less attractive to the men who were interested in her. She is known, then, as the patron saint of those with eye problems.

All this seems a little extreme. How awful to mutilate one’s body so you would not have to get married. But the extreme measures Lucy took, and other women took to take control of their own destiny is also kind of heroic.

We think of all those women in our time who are trafficked throughout the world. I was hearing stories the other day of young women in Nigeria who were kidnaped by soldiers fighting in a war in that country. The women had to be sex slaves. A lot of them were forced to have abortions. The abuse of women and girls continues to this day in many parts of our world. Lucy can be a patron for those who enduring this human tragedy.

The church needs to speak out boldly in defense of women who are being taken advantage of. No person should be treated as a piece of property. Everyone has a fundamental human dignity.

Reflection Questions:

1.    How do I feel about the story of St. Lucy? Does it shock me in some way?

2.    How are women being taken advantage of in our world today? Does Lucy’s story have any relevance?

 Dear Parishioners,

           This Thursday at 5 p.m. in the church we will be having posada prayers in the church. The posada is a Mexican custom revolving around a nine-day novena that takes place for Christmas. The 16th of December is the first night of the posada.

          The original custom would involve going to nine different homes. Jesus and Mary in costume go to each house on nine consecutive nights. They are looking for a house so that they might have shelter. At each home the Holy Family is refused entrance at first, but then they are let in. Prayers of thanksgiving are said. And everything ends with a social.

          If you are curious about this Mexican custom feel free to join us on Thursday evening.

          May Our Lady watch over our troubled world today,

          Fr. Mark