JANUARY 7 – ST. LUCIAN, MARTYR.

ST. LUCIAN was born at Samosata, in Syria. Having lost his parents in his youth, he distributed all his worldly goods, of which he inherited an abundant share, to the poor, and withdrew to Edessa, to live near a holy man, named Macarius, who imbued his mind with a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and led him to the practice of the Christian virtues. Having be come a priest, his time was divided between the external duties of his holy state, the performance of works of charity, and the study of sacred literature. He revised the books of the Old and New Testament, expunging the errors which had found their way into the text either through the negligence of copyists or the malice of heretics, thus preparing the way for St. Jerome, who shortly after was to give to the world the Latin translation known as “The Vulgate.”

Having been denounced as a Christian, Lucian was thrown into prison and condemned to the torture, which was protracted for twelve whole days. Some Christians visited him in prison, on the feast of the Epiphany, and brought bread and wine to him; while bound and chained down on his back, he consecrated the divine mysteries upon his own breast, and communicated the faithful who were present. He finished his glorious career in prison, and died with the words, “I am a Christian,” on his lips.

REFLECTION: If we would keep our faith pure, we must study its holy truths. We cannot detect falsehood till we know and love the truth; and to us the truth is not an abstraction, but a Person, Jesus Christ, God and Man.

WORD OF THE DAY

OBJECTIVE GUILT. Sinful estrangement from God when a person deliberately does something gravely forbidden by God. Those who, with full deliberation and consent, commit adultery, murder, perjury, and similar crimes, estrange themselves from God. He sets down the conditions for human estrangements, not they. It is not up to a human being to decide subjectively whether a deliberate serious sin is also a mortal sin that deprives him or her of God’s friendship. God alone has the right to determine what separates a sinner from the Creator; a creature does not have the right to stand in judgment on God and tell him what constitutes a mortal sin.

Consequently “a person sins mortally not only when his action comes from direct contempt for love for God and neighbor, but also when he consciously and freely, for whatever reason, chooses something which is seriously disordered. For in this choice there is already included contempt for the divine commandment; the person turns himself away from God and loses charity” (Paul VI, Declaration on Sexual Ethics, December 29, 1975).

Every serious sin, therefore, is a mortal sin when a person freely decides to do whatever he knows God forbids under penalty of exclusion from the kingdom of heaven.

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

There’s also a Christmastide Mediation

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