The refrain from our psalm today
asserts: “The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great
kindness.” Sometimes, though, when we see the ways of the world, we seem to be
very far from mercy and kindness and graciousness. We celebrate St Lucy today, one of the
beloved saints from our Early Church.
She died around the year 304 in the persecutions authorized by the
Emperor Diocletian when the legal rights of the followers of the Jesus to
practice their faith were rescinded in the Roman Empire. Lucy is said to have been a member of an
aristocratic family who refused to marry the pagan man to who she was
betrothed. It is said that she had her
taken out of her by the Roman soldiers, so we recognize St Lucy as the patron
saint of those who are blind and those with diseases of the eye. St Lucy is very beloved by the people of the
Scandinavian countries, so we pray for them today as well.
It is easy for easy to feel removed
from God’s love and mercy when we experience the harshness and struggles of
this world. Even unto death, St Lucy and
the other martyrs of the Early Church kept their faith and gave thanks to the
God of love and mercy. May we do the
same.
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