Tuesday in the Third Week of Advent, December 13, 2022

The Feast of St. Lucy

Matthew 21, 28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.”

God asks so little in return for all he has to give us.  He comes before us as our Father, knowing us and what we are capable of, and sets before us a simple test that any of us can pass in order to gain his rewards.  He sees that we are children and so he does not ask us to perform deeds that only adults can accomplish.  He does not expect us to know very much, either — only what a child can know.  The test he sets before us requires neither great skill nor high understanding.  It only requires obedience, of which we  all are capable.  Besides the simplicity of the test and what it requires, God gives us the supreme example of his Son, who obeyed him in all things, even to dying on a Cross for us.  In addition, he provides us grace so that our task is not only possible, but even pleasant.  The reward for accomplishing the task is eternal life on heaven.  Despite everything, there are those who reject it through their pride, or give up on it halfway through out of cowardice or a lack of sufficient desire for the reward.  and then there are those who persevere in obedience until the end.  These are the saints.

"Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you."  All of us except the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose unique role meant her unique creation without original sin, none of us are born holy.  The saints begin as sinners, sometimes completely mired in sin, but they fall in love with Jesus, recognize what they must to to please him and to be saved so as to be with him always, and then resolutely commit to this: to steadfast obedience to his Father's will.

St, Lucy is one of these great saints who gave herself entirely to God, obeying his holy will for her rather than allow herself to be enticed by all the flattery and promises the world could devise, and then looking past its worst threats.  The obedience that is the child of love will gain us heaven as surely as it for her.