August 10
St. Lawrence, Martyr
Gospel: John 12:24-26
Today's Gospel: John 12:24-26
(Whoever Loves His Life Will Lose It)
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies
it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate
their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must
follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me,
the Father will honor.
Reflection:
Saint Lawrence was a deacon in Rome charged with
caring for the Church's poor. When the prefect demanded he hand over the
Church's treasures, Lawrence gathered the poor, the sick, and the suffering
he'd been serving and presented them, saying these were the true treasures of
the Church. For that, tradition holds he was martyred by being roasted on a
gridiron, and legend says that in the middle of it, he told his executioners to
turn him over, because he was done on that side. Whether that detail is history
or holy legend told to strengthen later Christians, the courage underneath it
is real: a man who had already died to himself long before his body caught
fire.
That's the grain of wheat Jesus is talking about. Lawrence didn't cling to his
life the way most of us instinctively do. He'd already let it fall into the
ground years earlier, in every small daily act of giving himself away to the
poor. The martyrdom was just the final, visible harvest of a life already
planted.
Our Lady is the first grain of wheat who ever fully died to herself, saying yes
to a plan that would cost her everything a mother fears losing, and bringing
forth more fruit than any life in history. Every saint who has ever emptied
themselves out for others, Lawrence included, learned that pattern first from our
Lady.
What in your life needs to fall into the ground before it can bear any
fruit? What is holding you back, and if you let it go, will you be able to thrust
more deeply into your private personal prayer life?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely
shared.
