MONDAY 10TH AUGUST 2020
FEAST OF ST LAWRENCE
2 Corinthians 9:6-10, John 12: 24-26
The best gift you can give is your life.
Today the church celebrates the feast of St Lawrence. He was one of the 7 deacons of the church of Rome. As a deacon, he was a servant of the people of God, especially to take care of the poor and needy. He carried out his work very well to secure the property of the church. In the eyes of many people, they believe that the church has a lot of money. They believe so because they do not know the amount of charitable works the church does. Many people who are not Christians in governmental organisations have even been advocating for the church to be paying tax to the government as if it is a social or economic establishment.
In the year 258AD, there was a persecution of the church. Pope Sixtus II was captured and was martyred alongside others because he refused to allow them to vandalize the treasures of the church. The church was therefore secured by St Lawrence who was only a deacon at this time. When the pagan emperor came to him to ask for the treasures of the church, he asked for a few days to gather it together. St Lawrence gathered all the poor and sick people that the church was cathering for and presented them to the emperor as the treasures of the church. This action infuriated the emperor that he ordered that Lawrence be executed on the 10th of August 258AD. His heroic witness to the faith has made him an outstanding martyr of the church and he was celebrated even more than pope sixtus II in the early church. 50 years after his death, the Christian emperor Constantine built the basilica of St Lawrence over his tomb.
Lawrence was very generous with his life, time, energy and resources to the poor and needy. As a deacon who is to serve the poor, indigent and sick, he learnt how to give even the last of what he had. This is why he was able to give his life for the poor and the church.
St Paul tells us in the first reading of today that God loves a cheerful giver. Those who store up what they have and do not give only get poorer. When you give, God blesses you the more. When you are used to giving, you will have in abundance. Your good deeds will never be forgotten.
As Jesus says in the gospel reading of today, we should not be afraid to give all that we have, even our lives. Even if we die like st Lawrence, we will be like a seed that dies to grow and yield a rich harvest. St Lawrence gave up his life, but he gained eternal life. God help us to be generous with what we have, even our lives. Amen.
Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP.
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