St. Lawrence, Deacon, and Martyr, August 10
2 Cor 9:6-10 / John 12:24-26
Paul talks about giving; God loves a cheerful giver.
Robert Rodenmayer wrote a book called Thanks Be to God. In it he says there are three kinds of giving: grudge giving, duty giving, and thanks giving. A grudge giver says, "I hate to give." This person gives little, for "the gift without the giver is bare." A duty giver says, "I ought to give." This person gives more, but there is no song in it. A thanks giver says, "I want to give." This person gives everything, and shows forth the image of God to the world.
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What kind of giver do we tend to be most of the time? "The rabbis had a saying that the best kind of giving was when the giver did not know to whom he was giving, and when the receiver did not know from whom he was receiving." William Barclay
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St. Lawrence was martyred in Rome in 258 during the persecution under the Roman emperor Valerian. He was among the seven deacons serving Pope St. Sixtus II, who was martyred a few days before Lawrence. When he was challenged to hand over the Church’s treasure to the authorities, he asked for a few days’ grace; then “he went all over the city, seeking out in every street the poor who were supported by the Church, and with whom no other was so well acquainted. On the third day, he gathered together a great number of them before the church and placed them in rows: the decrepit, the blind, the lame, the maimed, the lepers, orphans and widows; then he went to the prefect, invited him to come and see the treasure of the Church.”
Although Lawrence was probably beheaded, St. Ambrose of Milan and the Latin poet Prudentius, among others, recorded that he was roasted to death on a gridiron. Many conversions to Christianity throughout Rome reportedly followed Lawrence’s death, including those of several senators witnessing his execution. The Basilica of San Lorenzo, Rome, was built over his burial place.
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As a deacon, Lawrence was placed in charge of the poor of Rome. When he was ordered to surrender the goods of the Church to the persecutors, he distributed them to the poor. When asked where the treasures of the Church were, he showed the poor… He was broiled alive. Rome venerates him as one of the greatest saints and co-patron of Rome with Peter and Paul. May we learn loyal service from him.
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St. Lawrence was a deacon of the Church of Rome when Pope Sixtus was martyred along with four other deacons during the year 258. St. Lawrence, who was temporarily in charge of the administration, was told by the authorities that if he wanted to be spared, he was to surrender all the treasures of the Church in three days' time. So, during the next three days, St. Lawrence went around gathering the poor and the needy who were supported by the Church.
Then he brought them before the authorities and he told them: These are the treasures of the Church. Needless to say, he was taken away to be tortured to death. The account of the execution scene was morbid. St. Lawrence was stripped and tied to a wire-mesh to be roasted over the fire. One account has it that St. Laurence said to his torturers: You can turn me over, I am well done on this side.
But martyrdom is certainly no laughing matter, but yet even as the blood of the martyrs was poured out, the Church grew especially in those terrible times.
Because it was a blood that was willingly poured out, willingly given for the glory of God. As the 1st reading puts it, St. Lawrence and the other martyrs sowed with their blood and their lives and they reaped the harvest of eternal life.
And as the gospel puts it, St. Lawrence gave up his life in witness to Jesus and by his death the Church reaped a rich harvest of faith. The martyrdom of St. Lawrence reminds us that our lives are to be poured out for others so that they can grow in faith and love and be the treasures of the Church. Hence, every sacrifice we make is like a dying to ourselves, and yet the harvest that will be reaped will make it all worth it.
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Prayer
Our generous God, You want us to be to everyone ministers of your joy and generosity. Help us to express our gratitude to you and to reveal your goodness by sharing what we are and have with joy and in all sincerity like the deacon St. Lawrence, who imitated the self-giving of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
