Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

Our Psalm response today reminds us, “Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.”

With the changing of times and seasons, we find ourselves in the midst of winter. Our days continue to get shorter until the Winter Solstice next week. Darkness seems pervasive. And that is true of the world around us too. We do not have to look far to find human pain and suffering.

The Church celebrates today the Memorial of St. Lucy, a young virgin who met her death in the Diocletian Persecution in the early 300s, a dark time in history and a dark time in the Church. St. Lucy’s name itself though means light. She was faithful in following the true light, Jesus Christ, to her own martyrdom and death. And it is for this that we remember her today, more than 1,700 years later.

Following Jesus, as the martyrs like St. Lucy show us, requires us to confront the darkness that we find in our midst. Being a Christian, a disciple of Jesus, asks us to bear His light in moments of pain and suffering that we encounter. The light of Jesus dispels darkness. His truth corrects error. His love comforts those in pain. Jesus is the truth light. He will be our peace. We must follow him faithfully, as the martyrs of old have, always reflecting the light of life.