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| S.Lucia Altar, St. Agatha appears to St. Lucy by Fra Angelico |
A young woman spent the
night with her desperately ill mother before the relics of St. Agatha. Tired from their vigil, they both fell
asleep. As the young woman dreamed, St.
Agatha appeared to her and told her two things: First, her mother would be
healed, and second, she (the young woman) would die a martyr. Waking from her dream, her mother was cured
and allowed the young woman to consecrate herself to God. The young man who had hoped to marry the
young woman was bitterly angry and brought her before the government on charges
that, if she was convicted, would mean a gruesome death. She was found guilty of being a Christian and
was burned at the stake and stabbed through the heart.
A terribly tragic
story…or is it really? Looked at through
the eyes of faith, we can also see in it a beautiful love story. This was the story of St. Lucy, whose feast
we celebrate today, handed down to us through legend. Because of her devotion and love for Jesus,
she was willing to sacrifice even her life on earth rather than deny Him. As a result, she is with Him for all
eternity. Now, how many love stories in
Hollywood have as an ending joy and happiness with one’s beloved for all
eternity?
The mystery of St.
Lucy’s decision to abandon marriage for love of Christ and consecrate herself
to Him is still with us today. Too often,
we are confused about love –movies, books, and songs mistake romance and lust
with love. We are left with the
impression that love is about roses, physical passion and hearing grand swells
of music whenever our loved one is near.
But flowers wilt, romance gives way to the reality of daily life and
sometimes the music of life strikes our ears as just plain noise. It is then we get to the reality of love – love
is an act of the will, to will the good for the other. Sometimes, often, we must make sacrifices and
hard decisions. Only then can we say we
have truly loved.
This is the reality of
love no matter to which vocation God has called you. We are all called to love, to become holy. Then, the question of discerning your
vocation becomes “how is God calling me to love?” For humans, the married life seems more
natural and considering the priesthood or consecrated life is more dramatic,
shocking even. With married love, we often
may gloss over the struggles and sacrifices required to make marriage work. A young couple goes to the priest with doe
eyes for each other, yet hasn’t considered the work of marriage – how will they
be good stewards of the money they earn?
How will they raise their children?
Suddenly, they may find themselves far apart on critical issues
foundational to marriage. Then there are
the daily sacrifices and observances required to love one’s spouse. A marriage may not have a formal rule like a
consecrated community, but to be sure one must be willing to sacrifice their
own will for the good of the other if the marriage relationship is to survive
and thrive.
On the other hand, we often
see the sacrifices of consecrated life much more easily, and tend to forget the
tremendous love and graces given to those who faithfully persevere in religious
life. We see the rule, the discipline,
and the boundaries and forget that the reason these are in place is to provide
the religious with maximum freedom to love – if I know I must be somewhere at a
certain time, I am free to focus on loving God and my sisters during that time
and activity. The consecrated religious
does not necessarily have to think about fitting in time for prayer because it
is done for them through the rule. This
frees them to focus on their interior disposition during that time of
prayer. There is true freedom and a
protected garden for real love to flourish.
Whether married, ordained, or consecrated, love transforms daily struggles,
tasks, disciplines, and other actions from “I must do…” to, “I get to do…”
Finally, returning to
our Saint Lucy, in today’s Office of Readings, we have this meditation by St.
Ambrose from his book, “On Virginity”:
You are one of God’s
people, of God’s family, a virgin among virgins; you light up your grace of
body with your splendor of soul. More
than others you can be compared to the Church…
This is the person Christ has loved in loving you, the person he has
chosen in choosing you. He enters by the
open door; he has promised to come in, and he cannot deceive. Embrace him, the one you have sought; turn to
him, and be enlightened; hold him fast, ask him not to go in haste, beg him not
to leave you. The Word of God moves
swiftly; he is not won by the lukewarm, nor held fast by the negligent. Let your soul be attentive to his word;
follow carefully the path God tells you to take, for he is swift in passing.
How is Jesus, the lover
of our souls, calling you to Him?
Through a marriage relationship? Ordained ministry? Consecrated life? Then do not be afraid! Fly! Keep
your eyes on Jesus and do not look at the crashing waves the enemy would blast
around you to keep you from Christ – stay faithful and God will resolve any
doubts or obstacles in His time according to His will. Pursue Him, while He is still near. For the sake of Love!
Are you, or do you know, a young, single Catholic
woman? Join us for our upcoming “Come
and See” Day on January 17th, 2015.
Click here to learn more.
