Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr
Dying to Oneself For Christ
Brethren, today we celebrate the feast day of Saint Lawrence, the deacon and martyr of the Church who gave up his life, his wealth and all he had for the service of the people and to follow the way of Jesus Christ. Today's readings invite us to imitate him by giving us the fruits of dying to oneself or self denial and self giving. In the first Reading Paul tells us that the one who sows more will reap more and the one who sows less will reap less; in other words, you reap what you sowed. The central message here is that one who denies and gives up oneself to sow much, he or she will reap much and one who does nothing or little, he or she will get nothing or just the little he sowed. For us Christians, we sow much, when we offer all our lives to serve Jesus and his Kingdom, and at the end reap much, which is eternal life.
The same message is depicted in the gospel. Jesus tells his disciples that if a seed does not fall into the ground and die, it will not produce fruit but will remain a single seed, but if it falls into the ground and dies it will produce abundant fruit. Jesus Himself again tells us that whoever loves his or her life and saves it in this world, he or she will lose it and whoever hates or loses his or her life for the sake of Christ will gain it eternally. Jesus is not saying we invite suffering or we just lose our lives just like that. He means our lives should be wholly surrendered to Him as a sole leader and should be for His service and service of all humanity. We should not use our lives for our self centred desires but for the good of ourselves, others and service of the kingdom. As Christians, unless we deny ourselves of all the world's desires and give up ourselves wholly to be servants of Jesus and be where He is hence losing our lives here on earth, we will not inherit eternal life.
Jesus ends by saying, “If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.” These are hopeful words and a promise. To be honoured has two meanings: to be respected or esteemed and to receive the fulfilment of a promise. Both allude to a hopeful ending. If we’re faithful, the Father will offer us the place prepared for us. And he will fulfil his promise of salvation. Jesus is the way to receiving the fulfilment of his promise. Do we have the courage to tell him, with great conviction, “I will follow you, Lord”?
The perfect example and follower of Jesus who gave up his life in an extraordinary way is St Lawrence. He gave up all his wealth to serve the Lord, and when commanded by the prefect of Rome to turn over all the treasures of the Church, Lawrence brought to him the poor, crippled, lame, needy and the sick as the treasures and wealth of the Church. The prefect, in anger, sentenced Lawrence to death by fire. He died a martyr by being roasted slowly on a grill. When he had been grilled for some time, he asked his murderers to turn him over to “grill the other side”! Lawrence’s faith and courageous love are fruits of Christ’s sacrifice. Although we may not be called to such heroism, Christ won the same grace for us to bear our crosses and live a life of selfless love and generosity. Can we embrace that selfless life?
When we reflect on the lives of the saints, we are inspired by their faithful service to Christ and his Church. Their fidelity is a fruit of Christ’s fidelity. Our acts of fidelity will give life and courage to others to do the same. Constant fidelity is above all the fruit of the grace of God, and our cooperation with it. Constant fidelity until death is the fruit of the fruits of this grace combined with our response. God is the one who creates in a soul the indispensable greatness needed for fidelity. Above all, he grants us the daily gift of his fortitude to persevere in it.
Reflect today on your readiness to give up yourself for the sake of Jesus and service of humanity. What are the things attached to you that are stopping you from dying to yourself for the sake of the kingdom? Pray for the Spirit of discernment and guidance so that whatever you do may be pleasing to God and neighbour.
Let us Pray
Grant us courage and strength through the intercession of St Lawrence, that we may give ourselves daily for the kingdom and that something greater may come out of our sacrifice. Amen.
Be blessed
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