JUDGED A LIGHT

“People judge according to what they see, and they see what they want. Therefore, we end up judging that which we envy or want.” ~Lao Tse. We all do it. Everybody makes value judgments in their daily lives and their relationships. After all it’s a natural need to evaluate and control the unknown. 

I recall seeing a statue of John the Baptist in a church. The artist had taken to heart the description of John found in Matthew 3:4, clothing him in camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist.   Locusts were on him and bees buzzed around the beehive at his feet. Ascetically, John was not appealing and he was judged to be possessed by evil spirits. 

I’ve also seen a photo of a happy, smiling Jesus that coined the dictum: “Jesus was either going to, at, or coming away from a banquet.” Jesus the banqueter displayed the inclusive quality of God’s kingdom—always for sinners, only to be judged as a glutton. 

Many of Jesus’ listeners didn’t want to play as though at a funeral (John’s call to repentance) or at a wedding (Jesus announcing the Kingdom of God is at hand). They judged the teachings of both John and Jesus as outlandishly demanding and dismissed them with fiendish soundbites. 

Little is known about St. Lucy, whose memorial we celebrate today, other than she came from the island of Sicily and died in the year 304.  There’s proof she was beloved by the early Christians because her name is prayed in the first Eucharistic Prayer at Mass. 

Tradition tells us she decided to never marry, to devote her life entirely to prayer and service to the Lord. Her mother tried to arrange for Lucy to marry a pagan man, but Lucy refused and gave away the dowry money to the poor. This generosity sparked the rage of her fiancé. Lucy was judged and sentenced to a brothel to violate her vow of virginity, but the guards who came to take her away were unable to move her.  They even tried hitching her to a team of oxen to get her to move to no avail.  The guards then heaped bundles of wood around to burn her, but wood wouldn't burn.  They finally resorted to their swords, and Lucy met her death. 

St. Lucy’s name means “light” or “lucid”.  Despite how the world judged John, Jesus, and St. Lucy they remained faithful, a light, to the service of God’s glory.  When we are in harmony with ourselves, are satisfied with who we are, and what we have there is no need to judge others.  As we continue our Advent preparations, may we be judged a light that glorifies the coming Messiah.