Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 13, 2023
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
My best friend since first grade, Ann, was diagnosed with Spastic Paraplegia. People with this disease live a normal life before diagnosis and disease onset. Ann played basketball, volleyball, and several other sports during her school years.
At the age of 30, she learned that she had the condition and that it would progressively get worse. She now uses a wheelchair. Ann’s expectations and life plans were turned upside down in a very short period of time.
Ann’s journey since she received her diagnosis has not been easy. She has been through many painful physical and emotional stages of grief. However, Ann continues to enjoy life. For example, yesterday, she texted me asking for my children’s current shirt sizes because she planned to buy them Christmas gifts.
Ann has little income besides her social security checks, yet she wants to spend what she has on my children. It occurred to me that despite her physical burdens, she has taken on the yoke of Jesus in today’s gospel. Ann has accepted the tragedy that her body is enduring and is choosing to love above all. Her commitment to living life to the fullest, to loving and giving to others despite her hardships, is only possible because she has chosen to place her trust in God and, in doing so, has found rest.
Most of us do not have a burden as heavy as Ann. However, Jesus’ message still applies. The Pharisees burdened the people with laws and rules that made daily life difficult. Today, we fill our lives with unnecessary burdens to have more, accomplish more, and please others. This gospel reminds us that, like Ann, we need to take on the yoke of Jesus: follow God’s commandments, pray humbly, and love.
If we do so, God will guide us in our actions and lives. While our lives will not always be easy, this is the path to rest.
Prayer
Jesus, we hear the world around us saying your burden is heavy and your yoke is too difficult, but you have told us it’s not. Your burden is light and your yoke is freeing. Serving you is sweetness. Sustain us as we continue in your service. Amen.
Saint of the Day
There is little information that can be historically verified about St. Lucy’s life, but the fact that she was a well-known and honored saint in the early Church cannot be denied. Lucy continues to remain among the most revered martyrs—she is one of the few saints invoked in the Eucharistic prayer at Mass.
Tradition tells us that Lucy was born to wealthy parents in Sicily, Italy. As a young girl, Lucy converted to Christianity and consecrated herself, pledging to remain a virgin. She kept her conversion a secret from her parents, who, in the meantime, promised Lucy in marriage to a young man who was a pagan.
Lucy refused outright to marry the young man, citing her vow of virginity. Stung and rejected, her betrothed denounced Lucy as a Christian in front of the governor of their province. Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians was at its height, and Lucy was brought to trial, around the year 304 AD.
There are many legends regarding Lucy's possible martyrdom. One tells the story of a judge condemning Lucy to a brothel. But when anyone tried to touch her, they were unable to reach or move her. A variation on this story says that Lucy was so "filled with the Holy Spirit" she became like a mountain, and not even a team of oxen could move her. Another account says that soldiers tried to burn her, but Lucy remained unscorched by the flames. Finally, accounts claim that Lucy was killed by the sword: either beheaded or stabbed through the eyes.
Lucy's eyes have taken on a large role in her legend. Some stories recount Lucy’s eyes being gouged out by part of her torture; some claim that she herself plucked them out before she was even brought to trial, in order to ward off her suitor. Her eyes were restored to her, however, and she was even more beautiful than before. Lucy's name comes from the Latin for "light," and as light is received ocularly, eyes are a natural symbol for this saint. Lucy is the patron of those who are blind or who suffer from diseases of the eye.
On the old Gregorian calendar, December 13 was the Winter Solstice. Thus, this feast day of Lucy's martyrdom was celebrated on the darkest day of the year. St. Lucy became a symbol of the light of Christ that breaks through the darkness. In Scandinavian countries, where winter was particularly dark, St. Lucy or "St. Lucia's" day became a great celebration. King Canute of Norway declared that St. Lucy's feast day on December 13 would become the beginning of the Christmas celebration.
Some relics of St. Lucy rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus, and Lucy is also depicted in one of the murals on the Basilica's walls, holding her eyes on a plate.
St. Lucy, brave intercessor for those in need of physical and spiritual light—pray for us!