Gospel: December 13, 2025

December 13, 2025 (Saturday)

2nd Week of Advent

Psalter: Week 2 / (Red)

St. Lucy, virgin and martyr

Ps 80:2ac & 3b, 15-16, 18-19

Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

See Also

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1st Reading: Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11

Gospel: Matthew 17:9a, 10-13

And as they came down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man be raised from the dead. The disciples asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus answered, “So it is: first comes Elijah; and he will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come; and they did not recognize him; and they treated him as they pleased. And they will also make the Son of Man suffer.” Then the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.

Reflection:

“Let us see your face and we shall be saved.”

Malachi 4:5-6 tells of the return of Elijah in preparation for the Day of the Lord. Elijah’s task was to bring harmony, that the Lord might bless his people and not curse them. Now, Jesus the Lord has visited his people, and he declares that Elijah has come in the person of John the Baptist. The task of John, the new Elijah, was to preach repentance so that in a restored harmony the people might look to the Lord once again and be saved. In the psalm we pray, “let us see your face and we shall be saved.” We are to seek the Lord and his merciful gaze. This is what Advent is about. It should also be the constant attitude of the Christian, as exemplified by the saints. Saint Lucy was a virgin martyr of the early Church from Sicily. Lucy, whose name means “light,” refused to turn away from the Lord. Some accounts of her martyrdom say that she was blinded during her torture before dying by the sword. Lucy, in the darkness of her suffering, clung to the true light, who is Christ. She looked for Christ’s face, knowing that in him is our salvation.