Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
You’ve probably heard this saying (or something like it), “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” Well, today’s gospel reading from Matthew (11:16-19) reminds me of this.
We hear Jesus speaking to the crowds about “this generation” and their complaints and judgment of both John the Baptist and “the Son of Man” (presumably Jesus himself). For when John “came neither eating or drinking…they said ‘He is possessed by a demon” and when Jesus “came eating and drinking…they said ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” You can’t please all of the people all of the time, and maybe not even some of the people some of the time.
Do we, similarly, prefer to judge and complain rather than be open to something new that the Spirit has swept in? How are we to know whether it is of God? Today’s gospel passage ends with a telling verse, “But wisdom is vindicated by her works.” What is the fruit of this work? As today’s Psalm (1:1-4, 6) reminds us, the one who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade…Whatever he (she) does, prospers.”
But let us not fall into the trap of measuring the “fruit” or what is “prospering” by worldly measures. For both John the Baptist and Jesus lived humble lives that ended in violence – not successful by simply wordly measures.
Let us pray for discernment to “judge wisely the things of earth and hold firm to the things of heaven” as we continue to prepare our hearts to celebrate and welcome our Savior’s birth – that we, too, along with St. Lucy, may be like a tree that yields its fruit in due season. For there is only One we truly need to be concerned about pleasing.
—Eileen Miller