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Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13
Psalm 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-18, 19 & 23
Matthew 21:28-32
Summary
The prophet chastises Jerusalem (the Israelites) for her hardness of heart and
unrelenting pride. But there is a promise of hope and redemption to come “on
that day” for the “remnant of Israel.”
The psalmist echoes the promise that the poor in spirit have God’s full attention.
The Lord is “close to the brokenhearted.”
The Gospel message is also one of hope. Jesus promises salvation to those who
repent and place their trust in the Lord.
Reflection
St. Lucy is the patroness of the blind as her name means “light”. One legend of
her martyrdom says that she was blinded as part of her torture. Before the Gre-
gorian calendar, December 13
th
was the shortest day of the year, the darkest day,
a day when people celebrated light. And so I was inspired to reflect on the sun-
rise.
Usually at sunrise, we are either asleep, or have our heads buried in the newspa-
per, or are scurrying around getting children up, breakfast ready, lunches made,
briefcase organized, anticipating that first cup of coffee, that important meeting,
the day’s work ahead of us. The time I savor the sunrise is when I’m on vaca-
tion.
Have you ever watched a sunrise? You strain your eyes scanning the horizon in
eager anticipation for a tiny speck of brilliance emerging from the soupy gray
dawn. Your heart skips a beat as you suddenly
see it – just a dot at first, then an ever enlarg-
ing blindingly beautiful red gold disk. The hori-
zon begins to blaze in pinks, oranges and golds,
vanquishing the darkness in glorious delight. If
there are clouds, they also begin to glow, their