Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate together the Feast of St. Lawrence of Rome, the great man of God who was one of the seven deacons of the city and See of Rome, and hence was a very important and prominent member of the Roman Church at that time. St. Lawrence was also the first among those seven deacons, as the Archdeacon of Rome, a position of great importance as he was indeed the right hand man of the then reigning Pope, Pope St. Sixtus II, whose feast we have just celebrated a few days ago. St. Lawrence of Rome was martyred at about the same time as Pope St. Sixtus and quite a number other Christians, who were persecuted during an episode of attack against the Church under the reign of the then Roman Emperor Valerian.

St. Lawrence himself was born in what is today part of Spain, where the later Pope St. Sixtus II met him in what is today Zaragoza, then known as Caesaraugusta. According to Church traditions, his parents were also Christians and were themselves martyrs, likely prior to the mission and works of St. Lawrence as deacon in Rome. Pope St. Sixtus II and St. Lawrence both travelled to Rome, where the former eventually became Pope succeeding his predecessor, Pope St. Stephen I. And as a trusted friend and member of his close inner circle, St. Lawrence was therefore appointed as the Archdeacon of Rome, responsible for the distribution of goods and for the care of the faithful people of God in the Diocese of Rome. He held the control and key of the treasuries and material goods of the Roman Church, and he did his duties most obediently, committing himself to care those entrusted under his supervision.

Then, at that time, the Roman state under Emperor Valerian began an intense persecution of Christians, arresting Pope St. Sixtus II and many others, who were martyred for their faith. As was customary, all those who were executed by the Roman state had their possessions and property confiscated and gathered to be added to the Imperial treasury. Hence, in order to avoid the property and goods of the Church meant for the people of God, especially the poor and the needy to fall into the hands of those who did not deserve them, St. Lawrence quickly worked to distribute the property of the Church to those who needed them, to the faithful so that they would not be seized. The Roman prefect of the city demanded and ordered St. Lawrence to hand over all the goods and properties of the Church, which was then responded by St. Lawrence who gathered the poor and the needy, and showed them as the true treasures of the Church.

That enraged the Roman prefect such that he ordered St. Lawrence to be arrested and tortured, and put on a great and hot gridiron, where this holy man of God was put to suffer terrible tortures. Yet, St. Lawrence fearlessly and courageously faced those sufferings and his upcoming martyrdom with calmness and joy, knowing that everything that he and the other martyrs had to suffer, were nothing compared to the true joy and glory that they would receive through the Lord. According to the Church traditions, St. Lawrence even cheerfully commented to his tortures to turn him over as in his own words, ‘I am well done on this side. Turn me over!’ All these showed just how courageous and brave St. Lawrence was in enduring those great persecutions and hardships, for the sake of God and His people. Eventually, he was executed and died as a martyr like many others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all the examples which St. Lawrence, holy deacon and martyr had shown us exemplified what we have heard from our Scripture passages today. In our first reading passage, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians in which St. Paul spoke of those who sowed meagrely and how they would also reap meagrely while those who sowed generously would also reap generous harvests. This is showing how our faith in God must be truly filled with true dedication and commitment to God, and not merely an empty faith and proclamations only. Like St. Lawrence, who devoted himself to the cause of the Lord, that he risked his life in doing his mission and in ensuring that the properties and goods of the Church entrusted to his care did not fall into the wrong hands, and faced suffering and martyrdom for those, thus, we should also do our part in living our lives with true dedication and faith.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard a related account of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples using a simple parable of comparing a grain of wheat that ought to fall to the ground and ‘die’ first so that it might bear plenty of fruits as the seed in the wheat would then germinate and grow into a new wheat plant that would bear many new wheat crops, and hence, be truly fruitful. This is related to the famous phrase of ‘the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians’ which reminded us all of the sufferings and hardships that many of our predecessors had to face in the midst of living their faith. Yet, their faith and commitment to God, their courage and bravery, like what was shown by St. Lawrence as mentioned earlier, should inspire all of us to live our lives with great faith and dedication to God, and to be inspirational in our way of life.

This means that in our every moments and in our every words, actions and deeds in life, all of us should do our best so that we may be the shining light of God’s truth and love, the light of hope for many of our fellow brothers and sisters who may be facing a lot of hardships and challenges in their lives. Like St. Lawrence, whose faith and commitment, courage and dedication had strengthened the faith of so many of those who came after him, in how they endured the challenges and persecutions against their faith. All of us should live in accordance to the Law and the path that God has shown us, the path of His righteousness so that we may all walk down this path and not be swayed easily by the temptations of worldly glory and by the fear of sufferings and death. Becoming Christians mean that we have to be prepared to suffer for the Lord, but we must always remember that we never suffer alone, for the Lord is always ever by our side.

May the Lord continue to watch over us and strengthen us in our ways, and may His wonderful saints, St. Lawrence and many of our other holy predecessors continue to inspire us by their great examples and role models, and may they intercede for us sinners, that God may deign to show His mercy and kindness upon us, especially in the moments of our hardships and challenges. May God bless us always in all things and may He empower us all to be His worthy disciples in all things. Amen.