DAILY- HOMILY

December 13, 2018 – THURSDAY, 2ND Week in Advent

St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

Memorial. Red.

Is 41: 13 - 20 / Mt 11: 11 – 15

St. Lucy (d. 304) was martyred in Syracuse. She is the patroness of those with afflictions of the eyes.

FROM THE 1ST READING:             Is 41: 13 - 16

For I, Yahweh your God, take hold of your right hand and say to you: "Fear not, I am your assistance." Fear not, Jacob, poor worm, and you, people of Israel, so frail. I am your redeemer, says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, your helper.

I will make you a thresher, new and with sharp double teeth; you will thresh hills and mountains, crushing them and reducing them to chaff. You will winnow them, the wind will carry them off and the storm will scatter them. But you will rejoice in Yahweh and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

GOSPEL READING:           Mt 11: 11 - 15

Jesus said, "I tell you this: no one greater than John the Baptist has come forward among the sons of women, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is something to be conquered and the unyielding seize it.

"Up to the time of John, there was only prophecy: all the prophets and the Law; and if you believe me, John is this Elijah, whose coming was predicted. Let everyone with ears listen!"

REFLECTION

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah speaks of Yahweh as the redeemer of Israel: "Fear not, I am your assistance."

In the Gospel reading Jesus praises John the Baptist for his role as the Precursor of the Messiah. He was the forerunner for the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people through a baptism for the repentance of sins. Coming before the salvation accomplished by Christ, John is the greatest among men, yet compared to those graced and saved by Christ's death and resurrection, John could not even be compared to the least of them.

When Mary visited Elizabeth, then with her baby John in her womb, Elizabeth declared that her child in the womb leapt for joy at the visit of Mary and the God­ man in her womb: commentators interpret this as John being freed from original sin and being graced by God.

Even those who may be the least in the kingdom of God are greater than John because the baptized have been graced by God and have been made God's adopted children and have become temples of the Holy Spirit.

May all the baptized live as worthy children of their heavenly Father.

FINALLY, WE PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ASKED OUR PRAYERS AND FOR THOSE WHO NEED OUR PRAYERS THE MOST. 

Have a good day!

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