Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 10, 2020
Jesus said to his disciples, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
“Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.”
“Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” The global pandemic and the tragedies and traumas (both big and small) that we have all dealt with this year have made today’s gospel more real for me than I could have ever imagined.
I grew up learning about the saints who were martyred and literally gave up their lives as a witness to Christ and their faith. Then I learned about religious vocations as a way of giving up this worldly life. But this year, it seems we have all been called to give up many of the things about this worldly life that we love, many of which are good, but not as good as God.
This year has been a huge struggle for me; a struggle with loneliness and navigating both my own fears and anxieties and those of the people I’m close to. In this strange year, we were not able to receive Christ in the Eucharist for months. Yet God is still working all this for our good, asking us to lay down these good things that we love and to grow in loving and trusting our creator. St. Lawrence is a very fitting saint for today – as he was martyred, he joked joyfully with his executors. He found joy and kept the faith in the midst of a huge sacrifice. He seems to me to be an excellent role model for this exact situation in which we find ourselves. Let’s strive to find the joy in the midst of the sacrifice this year.
Prayer
Lord, our God, your deacon, Lawrence spent himself for the poor of the Church. Thus he merited martyrdom and was deemed worthy to receive an eternal reward. As Christians may we also accept our daily sufferings as a sign of our willingness to join our lives to the millions who have gone before us giving their lives freely for the sake of the kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Lawrence is one of the most venerated saints among the Christian martyrs, and his manner of death has inspired cooks to ask for his prayers.
He was one of seven deacons that served the Church in Rome—his role was to manage the material goods of the Christian community, and to distribute financial support to the poor. In 257, the emperor ordered the suppression and persecution of Christians. The pope was arrested and killed, and Lawrence followed him four days later. This is all we know for certain of this saint’s life.
Other details have been filled in by the faithful. St. Ambrose and others have offered more details to his life, but it is unclear if these are embellishments or fact. The most prominent of these stories involves Lawrence’s clever retort to a greedy Roman official.
The official imagined that the Church held great wealth, and wanted to seize anything of value, such as the precious metals used in sacred vessels and candlesticks. He ordered Lawrence to hand all of these things over.
Lawrence replied to him, “The Church is indeed rich—the emperor has no treasure equal to what it possesses.” He asked for a few days to take an inventory and to set everything in order.
Then Lawrence went through Rome, seeking all of the poor people who were supported by the Church. On the appointed day, he lined them up—people who were disabled and blind and sick with leprosy, as well as widows and orphans. Then he invited the official to come and meet him.
When the official arrived and saw this collection of suffering people, he asked Lawrence what this meant. Lawrence replied, “What are you displeased at? These are the treasures of the Church.”
The official was infuriated and threatened to kill Lawrence slowly. He ordered a gridiron prepared over a bed of hot coals, and had Lawrence roasted upon it. St. Ambrose tells us that while Lawrence’s body was subject to fire, his spirit was set aflame with divine love. In fact, it is said that after roasting on one side, Lawrence said to his executioner, “Let my body be turned; this side is broiled enough.”
Lawrence is certainly one of the most venerated martyrs of the early Church, and is included in one of the Eucharistic prayers in the Mass. With an ironic nod, he is patron saint against the threat of fire, and of those who prepare food. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica, and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art holds this sketch of his martyrdom by Luigi Gregori. The image at top is a detail from a fresco by Blessed Fra Angelico and depicts Lawrence distributing alms to the poor.
St. Lawrence, courageous martyr and patron of chefs and cooks, pray for us!
Luigi Gregori (Italian, 1819-1896), The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, n.d., graphite, ink, and wash on laid paper. Raclin Murphy Museum of Art: Gift of Luigi Gregori, AA1972.031.094.