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Apart from her being martyred at Syracuse in 304 AD during the persecution of Diocletian, there is very little certain known about Lucy. However, her cult began quite soon after her death and spread widely. An inscription dating from about the year 400 is to be found in Syracuse. Her name appears in the First Eucharistic Prayer of the Roman Rite, also in the Ambrosian rites, as well as in the oldest Roman liturgical texts, in Greek liturgical books, and in the marble calendar of Naples. Churches dedicated to her can be found in Rome, Naples and in Venice. A church near the railway station in Venice claims to have a partially incorrupt relic of her body.

According to her Acts (which have little historical value) Lucy, a Christian, was a wealthy Sicilian during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. She consecrated her virginity to God, turned down proposals of marriage to a pagan, and gave away her dowry to the poor. She was betrayed as a Christian by the man who wanted to marry her to the governor of Syracuse. A judge ordered that she should be sexually violated in a brothel, but miraculously she could not be moved from where she was. He then tried—unsuccessfully—to have her burnt, and she was finally executed by the sword. In medieval accounts, her eyes were gouged out prior to her execution.

Artistic representations reflect the stories in these Acts. Her eyes sometimes appear on a plate that she is holding. The earliest known image of her (showing no symbols) is in a frieze of virgins in the 6th century mosaics in the church of St Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna.

Until 1861, Lucy’s remains were housed in a church named after her in Venice. When this church was demolished, they were moved to the church of San Geremia, where they can still be seen.

In Scandinavia her feast, held on what was the shortest day of the year in the old calendar, has become a festival of light. The youngest daughter in the family, dressed in white, wakes the rest of the family with coffee, rolls and a special song.

In Sicily, and in many other places, the song ‘Santa Lucia’ remains enduringly popular. Lucy’s name (from the Latin word lux, meaning ‘light’) also played a large part in her being named as a patron saint of the blind and those with eye trouble.

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Thanks to the work of Slovenian Matej Nastran, scripture text can easily be consulted wherever there is a reference. Just point at the reference with your mouse and you will see the text. Point again or click on the text to hide it. (See it on this text: John 3:16) Note that this does not apply to scripture references that are themselves hyperlinks, such as the navigation in the right sidebar. When you have clicked on the links to the right any further scripture reference in the body of the texts appear when you point to them.

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Commentary on Luke 9:46-50

Following on Jesus once again telling his disciples that he was going to be “handed over” to suffering and death, we were told in our previous reading that they did not understand what he meant. It did not make sense to them.

Now, almost as an indication of how far they were from Jesus’ thinking, they began arguing among themselves which one among them should be seen as the greatest. Why should they be arguing about this? Was it because, whatever difficulties they had in accepting what Jesus had said about his future, they were wondering what was going to happen after Jesus had been taken away from them? If they were to remain together as a group, which of them would be in charge?

Perhaps Peter was already beginning to think that he should be the one. Perhaps some of the others felt it should be one of them. But Jesus, who, of course, was not present during these sensitive discussions, was well aware of what was going on. He took a child and put it in their midst, saying:

Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the least among all of you is the greatest.

It is interesting that the greatness is to be seen in the child rather than in the one who ‘welcomes’ the child. The child represents all who are vulnerable and weak and powerless. To ‘welcome’ such persons is to treat them with the utmost dignity and respect and to accept them and lift them up.

In Jesus’ eyes, such little people are truly great because, to those who have eyes to see, they are the ones in whom we can especially meet Jesus and love and serve him. St Francis of Assisi, who kissed the leper (a particularly daring thing to do in his time), or St Teresa of Calcutta, tenderly picking up a decaying, barely living body off the street, knew this well. To find Jesus in such a person is to make direct contact with God himself.

Jesus himself will reach the peak of his own greatness when he hangs dying and helpless on the cross. This is the lesson the disciples will learn to see and accept in time. We have to keep working on it too, because it does not come easily to any of us.

The second part of today’s Gospel points to another area where the disciples have to change their outlook. John, the brother of James, who both come across in the Synoptics as somewhat hotheaded (they had the nickname “sons of thunder”), tells Jesus they saw someone driving out devils in Jesus’ name. They had told the man to stop because he “does not follow with us”. Perhaps there was also an element of jealousy, because in Mark’s Gospel (9:14-29) we are told that the disciples were unable to drive out an evil spirit from a boy.

Here we have something of the arrogance of the insider, of the elitist. John and his companions felt that the exorcism of evil spirits in the name of Jesus was something only they were allowed to do. Jesus did not agree. Jesus tells them:

Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.

In doing so, he enunciated this principle for them to follow.

It is a constant temptation among more devout religious people to set themselves apart from ‘others’. It can happen to bishops or priests or religious. It can happen in a parish to members of the parish council or some parish group—a prayer group, charismatics, the liturgy committee or whatever.

We can find ourselves developing a two-tier community of ‘us’ and ‘them’. We can find ourselves looking down on those who come in late for Mass and hang around the back door, or who only come occasionally, or maybe even only turn up at Christmas.

Even more, we can be tempted to set ourselves apart from non-Catholic and non-Christian groups. We can fail to see God working in all kinds of people, religious and non-religious, atheists, agnostics and people who apparently do not believe in anything.

Of course, as Christians, we do have a distinctive understanding of life and its meaning coming from the teaching and life of Jesus and it should not be compromised. But at the same time, we do not have a monopoly on the truth—no one has. The full Truth is beyond all of us. We are all searching.

Still less do we have a monopoly on good works. God can and does use any person to build the Kingdom. And it is our responsibility to work hand in hand with such people. Ultimately, our aim is not to promote our Church, but God’s work and God’s plan for the whole world.

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Living Space is an established part of Sacred Space. The daily commentary on the readings have become an important part of the day for for some seven thousand people every month. The texts are written by Frank Doyle, and Irish Jesuit priest, and regularly updated and revised.

The new format makes for easier management of Living Space and allows many possibilities of enhancing the presentation of the daily reflections. The user of the site will find a dynamic calendar to allow quick access to the readings. The resource can be shared readily with others through the facilities for printing and emailing that are on each page.

In time, we hope to be able to add a calendar to make days easier to find. It helps too that, as days are added into the new system, they are available to the search facility.

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These weekday commentaries are not meant to be homilies for preaching, rather they are intended to give some background to the daily readings to help both the homilist and the faithful have a sense of continuity as we go through the readings each day. The elements of this reflection are as follows:

The arrangement of the Scripture readings
Weaknesses in the arrangement
Towards a better understanding
Our purpose
The Liturgy of the Word
Role of the Reader

It is possible for each day’s commentaries to be considered as separate and stand-alone. There are always people in a weekly congregation who do not come to daily Mass, or if they come, perhaps only occasionally. But in many parishes, there are a regular number of people who attend every day. I believe it is helpful to walk with them through the passages of the different books of the Bible as they are read each day. And, there will be other people, those who cannot get to daily Mass, who will hopefully want to visit this site every day. The commentaries can be view as an introductory course to the Bible as well as a source of personal prayer.

The arrangement of the Scripture readings
For Sunday readings during the three-year cycle (A, B and C), we read the Gospel according to Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B and Luke in Year C. John’s Gospel is scattered through the seasonal feasts of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter – and especially during the Sundays of the Easter season. On Sunday, the First Reading (except during the Easter season) is normally taken from the Old Testament, and the theme of the reading normally has some relationship to the Gospel. The Second Reading is taken from letters in the New Testament. The letters are read through continuously. For example, parts of the Letter to the Romans will be read in sequence on a number of Sundays and then on the following number of Sundays the readings will be from, say, the Letter to the Ephesians. Usually, there is no direct link between the Second Reading and the other two.

Weekdays readings follow a different pattern and have a two-year cycle, Cycle I and II. In each cycle, we read through the whole of the Gospels, but the Infancy and Resurrection narratives are kept for the Christmas and Easter seasons, respectively. Mark, Matthew and Luke follow one another in that order. Readings from John’s Gospel are scattered through the ‘non-Ordinary Time’ weeks of the liturgical year, especially during the Easter season. The First Reading is taken from either the Old or the New Testament in a two-year cycle. Old and New Testament books tend to alternate, and not in the order in which they appear in the Bible. Generally too, during the Ordinary Time weeks there is no intended connection between the First Reading and the Gospel. The two sets of readings run parallel to and largely independent of each other. However, during the seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter there is normally a link between the First Reading and the Gospel.

Weaknesses in the arrangement
If there is a weakness in the present arrangement of the Scripture readings it is in the Sunday readings. On the Sundays during the year, the Gospels are pretty well covered and they are read in sequence. The New Testament letters are also covered and read in some sequence but the Old Testament loses out. As I said, the Old Testament text is usually chosen with a theme which correlates with that of the Gospel reading. But this means that the Old Testament texts are picked at random and out of context. A person going regularly to Sunday Mass and listening carefully to the readings would not get much understanding of the content and structure of the Old Testament. And it is not surprising that many Catholics (unlike many Protestants) have a very poor acquaintance with the Old Testament beyond some well-known stories, especially those featured in movie epics like Cecil B. DeMille’s ‘The Ten Commandments’.

With the weekday readings the situation is rather different. A person going to daily Mass will hear sections of Old Testament books read in sequence over the two-year cycle. However, we have to realise that, in spite of the many readings, we still only dip into what is there. Only selected passages can be chosen and, after one’s appetite is whetted, it is for each one to read the whole text of the book being read.

And, unfortunately, even when the celebrant does give a reflection at Mass, the First Reading, and especially the Old Testament, tends to get put aside. In fact, because the two weekday readings are not related, most celebrants concentrate on the Gospel reading which is more familiar to most people and rated more important.

Towards a better understanding
The purpose of these commentaries, then, is to suggest a way by which all the weekday readings get a little more attention and help both Mass goers and those who use these notes for personal reflection to have a better understanding of the whole Bible.

I feel strongly that, all things being equal, no Mass should ever be celebrated without some kind of reflection, however brief, on the readings of the day. I always experience a certain sadness when I see a priest turn away after reading the Gospel without saying anything. It is probably true also that, among those celebrants who do say something, they are inclined to speak only about the Gospel. And, part of the reason for that, we might have to confess, is that even priests are not as familiar with the other New and Old Testament readings as we might be.

Our purpose
Part of the purpose of these commentaries is to help celebrants be able to say something about the first reading and the Gospel, though not necessarily in the same homily. Weekday homilies normally should be fairly brief! Because the two readings are often on very different subjects, it can be somewhat forced to squeeze both of them into one short reflection.

I have found that people can be very appreciative of being given a “thought for their day”. In the long term, where one is celebrating Mass for the same community every day, a better picture of the whole Bible can begin to emerge if all of the readings are given an ‘airing’. It is a small step towards drawing Catholics into a better appreciation and a greater familiarity with the Bible from the Book of Genesis to Revelation. In time, it should to creating an appetite for a deeper understanding by attending Scripture courses or forming Bible-sharing groups.

The Liturgy of the Word
I am a strong believer in the importance of the Liturgy of the Word as a genuine source of nourishment for our people. But the Word of God does, like the eucharistic bread, need to be broken open so that those, who are very often not very familiar with large portions of the Scripture, can be fed.

Some parishes have developed the excellent custom where people bring along their own Bibles and read from that. While it is, in a sense, better to listen to rather than read the readings, using one’s own Bible helps one to become familiar with its “geography”. I am frequently amazed at how many otherwise well-informed Catholics are totally lost when a Bible is put into their hands.

I believe that, if we had to make a choice between having either the Liturgy of the Word or the Liturgy of the Eucharist, but not both, there would be a strong argument for choosing the Liturgy of the Word. Effective participation in the Liturgy of the Eucharist depends very much on who Christ is for us. As St Jerome is supposed to have said many centuries ago, “ignorance of the Scripture is ignorance of Christ”. And, if I have only a very imperfect understanding of who Christ is, what happens when I go to receive him in Communion?

Unfortunately, some often tend to rush through the readings, drop any thought of a homily, so that we can get to the “real” part of the Mass, the Consecration and the Communion and the Real Presence of Christ. But we must realise there is also a real presence of the Lord in the Scriptures. At the end of each reading we say: “The Word of the Lord.” It is not the reader we have been listening to, but it is the Lord himself who is speaking to us.

Role of the Reader
Which raises another issue – the importance of the Reader being able effectively to communicate, to proclaim the Word. When the nearest available person is called on to read and, though they may be well-intentioned, they are sometimes difficult to hear. Sadly, we tend to be very tolerant of low standards in this part of the liturgy. But the Scripture Reader is a ministry and a minister should be chosen for his/her aptitude and ability to effectively proclaim the Word of God.

As St Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome a long time ago:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom 10:13-15)

Let us then pay greater attention to God’s Word, listen carefully to what it says, try to understand its meaning in the context of our present lives, and then to share our experience of the Good News with those we meet.

Finally, let me emphasise that aim of these commentaries is to whet your appetite to have a deeper understanding of the Word of God, to go to the original sources and also to consult the many other commentaries which are available. And, better still, to join or set up a group which will study the Word of God together with the help of the many guides which are available.

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Commentary on Matthew 13:24-30

Today’s passage from the Parables of the Kingdom is found only in Matthew’s Gospel. It is about the planting of seed, but the concern is quite different, and it again reflects the experience of the early Church.

A man has sown good seed in his field but, unknown to him, an enemy has come and planted weeds among the wheat. As the plants come up the farmer sees the weeds growing all through his wheat. His slaves want to pull them out, but the farmer tells them to wait until the harvest time. The wheat and the weeds are similar in appearance in the early stages and it will be much easier to differentiate them as they mature. In the meantime, let both grow side by side.

This is a picture of the Kingdom and also of the Church which is trying to be part of it. For the early Church, more distressing in many ways than persecution from outside, must have been betrayal and shortcomings on the inside. There would have been a strong temptation immediately to get rid of such people. But wiser heads prevailed: “Wait…let God be the judge and, in any case, people can change”. The sinner of today may be the saint of tomorrow.

This has been a problem all through the history of the Church and today is no exception. There is always a strong temptation among those who feel themselves more committed to living out the Gospel to adopt an elitist approach to the faith. This can take two forms, either: 1) members who are seen as falling short of the Church’s requirements in faith and behavior are gotten rid of, or 2) and perhaps more commonly, those who see themselves more committed form a relatively closed group, i.e. a church within a church. There has been a certain amount of tension over such situations with the appearance of a number of Catholic movements in recent times.

Today’s parable reminds us of something very important, namely, that the Church is, and always will be, a Church of sinners and for sinners. Our Church is, as Paul puts it, “a vessel of clay”, leaking and easily broken. At the same time, we have been called to help bring about the Kingdom in our world and we have constantly to try to do that. But we need to distinguish between the vessel and its contents – the weeds and the wheat – to distinguish between the Christian vision and the Church which tries to communicate it.

Some have been disturbed by the scandals of our age (and scandal has existed all across the time of the church) and have left the Church because of them. To do so is to not to understand today’s parable. These scandals, far from undermining the Christian vision, only affirm it. That vision remains a shining ideal. But the Church, which is not to be identified with the vision, is the flawed and fragile bearer of that vision. It has always been so and always will be. The Church is called to proclaim the Kingdom, but it has to struggle to realise that Kingdom in itself also. Today’s parable is a call for tolerance, patience, compassion and understanding while not compromising on the vision that comes to us from Jesus.

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Commentary on Luke 13:10-17 Read Monday of Week 30 of Ordinary Time – Gospel »

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Commentary on Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28

There is a strong parallel between the stories of Joseph and Jesus in today’s readings. In both cases the words quoted from the Psalm apply:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone. (Ps 118:22)

Joseph is the favourite of Jacob’s twelve sons, the sons who would later become the patriarchs of God’s people. His brothers became jealous of him and grew to hate him. They hated him even more for the dreams he told. In one of these, he said he had a vision of the family bringing in the harvest. In the dream, all his brothers’ sheaves bowed down before Joseph’s sheaf. This, of course, did happen later when the brothers came to Egypt during a time of famine in search of food. Unknown to them at first, Joseph was the grand vizier of Egypt in whose presence they paid homage.

In today’s reading, when Joseph, at the instructions of his father, went to visit his brothers in the fields, they conceived a plot to kill him. However, one of the brothers, Reuben, intervened and suggested instead that Joseph be thrown down a dry well, hoping to give him back to their father later. Reuben was the eldest son, but later fell out of favour after committing incest with his father’s concubine. Judah subsequently took over leadership of the family. The other brothers agreed to Reuben’s suggestion because they did not want to have the blood of their own brother on their hands. Perhaps they remembered what happened to Cain.

Eventually Joseph is either sold to Ishmaelites on their way to do business in Egypt or discovered in the well by Midianites and sold for 20 pieces of silver to traders on their way to Egypt. In later times, this sum was the value of a male of Joseph’s age who had been dedicated to the Lord (see Lev 27:5). The father is later told that his son has died from an attack by animals and is given back, as proof, the famous multi-coloured coat stained with (goat’s) blood.

Joseph should have ended up in obscurity as a slave in Egypt but, thanks to his ability to interpret dreams, he was to win the favour of the Pharaoh and become the chief minister in Egypt and ultimately the saviour of his own people from famine—a famine which Joseph had foretold and helped to prepare for.

The story prepares us for the coming of Jesus, who is clearly the son in the parable featured in today’s Gospel. Jesus, too, was a man of ‘dreams’, with a vision of life which was rejected by many close to him. He, too, was sold into the hands of enemies precisely because of that, to become the saviour of his own people.