Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

 Lectionary: 618

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.

On this feast of the Martyr Saint Lawrence the Church offers a reflection from Saint Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians. Although he was encouraging his Greek disciples to give generously to drought-stricken Jerusalem, his metaphor of sowing and reaping applies readily to martyrdom: 

"unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains just a grain of wheat....

I heard the following teaching recently; I may have written of it more recently; but it's worth repeating. There are two kinds of sacrifice: those we take up voluntarily like fasting and donating time, talent, or treasure. And those that are forced upon us. 

The latter are far more valuable; they are the crosses which Jesus urged upon his followers as he proceeded to Jerusalem. Life can be very hard at times; and severe disappointments can beset us at any time or place. Hardship may come from suspicious strangers or intimate companions. They may come suddenly or gradually; predictably or unexpectedly. 

They may astonish us but surprise no one else; as when others see the mess we're making of our lives. They saw it coming, but we did not! Or a cross might be forced upon a solitary individual, or families and communities. Sometimes accepting the cross means finding ways to reduce the suffering; and sometimes we have no choice but to grin and bear it. 

In every case, it's an opportunity to practice that freedom of choice which Jesus gives us and Saint Paul celebrated with a shout: 

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery." (Gal 5:1)

The slavery of Saint Paul and many others speak, is precisely the cross which the Lord gives to us and we choose to receive with grace. It's not the slavery of sin. 

We celebrate the Martyr Saint Lawrence with a peculiar delight because of his extraordinary grace under severe trial. More importantly, we remember the good cheer which many martyrs have demonstrated as they faced their death. Saint Ignatius of Antioch begged his Roman friends not to intervene when he was thrown to savage lions. Ugandan boys, discovering that their companions had been arrested, hurried to catch up with the death march. Isaac Jogues had already suffered the loss of his fingers to his tormentors, but insisted on returning to America and his beloved Iroquois people, who put him to death. 

Our martyrs remind us to recognize the things we can change, and the things we cannot change. They teach us to embrace the latter with cheerful hearts. They might seem unbearable, or they may be wonderful gifts.