St Lawrence 10.08.09

1st Reading: 2 Cor 9: 6-10 Gospel: Jn 12:24-26 St Laurence was a deacon of the Church of Rome when Pope St Sixtus II was executed along with a few others in the year 258. St Laurence was told that if he wanted to be spared, he was to surrender the treasures of the Church. So the next few days, St Laurence went round gathering the poor and the misfortune who were supported by the Church. Then he brought them all to the authorities and he told them, 'These are the treasures of th Church.' Needless to say, he was taken over to be tortured to death. The execution scene was morbid. St Laurence was stripped and tied to a wire mesh to be roasted little by little; more morbid if we can imagine the sight, the smell and the sound of the roasting flesh. And one account has it that St Laurence can even said to his tormentors, 'You can turn me over, I am well done on this side.' But martyrdom is not laughing matter, but yet even as the blood of the martyrs was poured out, Christianity grew especially in these terrible times. It was a blood that willingly poured out, willingly given for the glory of God. In these present times, the seed of Christianity is also waiting to sprout. And we as Christians are called, not so much to shed our blood but to fertilize the soil by the example of our lives especially in our generosity. And we do this by faithfully following Christ and serving Him in the poor like St Laurence did, so that our lives will also yield a rich harvest.