Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - Aug. 10 - St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr
[2 Cor 9:6-10 and John 12:24-26]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." {John] "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully........The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness." [2 Cor.]
An old story has it that a chicken and a pig were looking through their pen fence at a breakfast restaurant across the road. The chicken was boasting about how eggs from chickens made the breakfast place possible, provided jobs and enjoyable food, etc. The pig simply replied, "For you it is a contribution. For me it is an ultimate commitment!" Ultimate commitment is what martyrdom is all about and the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon, is a reminder of that kind of commitment.
Martyrdom did not stop with the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., when Christianity became legal in the Roman Empire. It is still happening and it is still an ultimate commitment to faith. Before the Edict of Milan, martyrdom was considered so valuable that some Christians were turning themselves in to the Roman authorities in the hope of achieving martyrdom! Needless to say, this was somewhat counter-productive to spreading Christianity, and I think it was St. Polycarp who urged the faithful NOT to do it, even as another early saint said, "The blood of martyrs is the seedbed of the church."
Although St. Lawrence is celebrated for his martyrdom, he is also a patron of the Permanent Deacons in the church. I hope they imitate his service but not his martyrdom. Jesus and St. Paul aimed their comments about seed and sowing in the direction of Christians giving their faith the kind of priority that could lead in some circumstances to martyrdom. Thanks be to God, we are not all called to martyrdom! We do, however, need to see our "contribution" in the light of the ultimate commitment. AMEN