The Feast of St. Lawrence, Tuesday, August 10, 2021

John 12:24-26

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

Pope St. Damasus (d. 383) wrote of the martyr whose feast we celebrate today: “Lawrence conquered whips, rending, flames, torments, and chains with only his faith.”  The fame of St. Lawrence was such that the Emperor Constantine built a church over his tomb in his honor within a few years of legalizing Christianity.  Lawrence was one of the seven deacons to whom Pope St. Sixtus II assigned the Christian poor of the city of Rome.  While he was providing this care, the Pope was arrested with some of the other deacons and they were martyred by the Roman authorities.  Lawrence was arrested days afterwards and was also put to death, in the year 258.  St. Ambrose, writing about a hundred years later, hands on the tradition that Lawrence was roasted to death on a gridiron, rather than beheaded, for his perceived arrogance in presenting a group of the poor as the treasures of the Church when he was commanded to deliver the Church’s treasury to the authorities.  His body was carefully buried by the faithful and, quickly, a great devotion arose for him.  His name was added to the second list of saints in the Roman Canon (the basis for the first Eucharistic Prayer).

The Lord Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat.”  Almighty God, in his marvelous Providence, has ordained that those who believe in him be purposed for “death” so that by the “fruit” of their death others may be converted.  This “death” may be the continuous dying to self that the Lord both models and commands for all who take his name as “Christians” (cf. Luke 9, 24).  The life of the believer may also culminate in the infliction of a violent death for the sake of the Lord Jesus.  Even greater fruit arises as a result of martyrdom both because of the powerful witness to Christ that it gives, and also in the graces won by the martyr in his or her sufferings.  Both of these deaths fulfill the injunction of the Lord: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.”  Not that we believers ought to act recklessly, seeking martyrdom: but we are to act fearlessly, accepting it if it comes.  This “hating” of one’s life ought to be understood as valuing life with the Lord above life on earth.  As St. Paul says to the Philippians, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1, 21-23).  Life is a good; it is a gift of God.  It is precious here on earth, but it is more so in heaven.

“Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.”  The Son of God came to be with us in all the circumstances of our life.  He ate with both rich and poor.  He grieved when friends died and rejoiced in prayer with his Father.  He was honored and debased.  He was killed and buried and raised.  As he came to be with us, we ought also to go to be with him, even to hanging on the Cross with him, as the martyrs are called to do.  “The Father will honor whoever serves me.”  And as the Father honors the Son, so will he honor those whom he recognizes in his Son.  As the angel said of those who lay down their lives for Christ, “They are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence” (Revelation 7, 15).

The persecution which swept up Pope Sixtus and Deacon Lawrence was designed by the Emperor Valerius to eradicate the Church’s leadership — popes, bishops, priests, and deacons — leaving the faithful bereft of the Mass and Sacraments so that they would lose their faith and return to the old pagan beliefs.  We ask the intercession of St. Lawrence for the strengthening of the faith of those consecrated to the Lord’s service, and for the perseverance of all believers.