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| “The Charity of St Lawrence” by Bernardo Strozzi,1639-40 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10
Brothers and sisters:
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.
Moreover, God is able to make
every grace abundant for you,
so that in all things, always
having all you need,
you may have an abundance for
every good work.
As it is written:
He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.
The one who supplies seed to
the sower and bread for food
will supply and multiply your
seed
and increase the harvest of
your righteousness.
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Commentary on 2 Cor 9:6-10
This reading describes Paul’s
call for action from the community at Corinth: “The behavior to which he
exhorts them is grounded in God's own pattern of behavior. God is capable of
overwhelming generosity, as scripture itself attests (2
Corinthians 9:9), so that they need not fear being short. He
will provide in abundance, both supplying their natural needs and increasing
their righteousness. Paul challenges them to godlike generosity and reminds
them of the fundamental motive for encouragement: God himself cannot be
outdone.”[4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 112:1-2,
5-6, 7-8, 9
R. (5) Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to
those in need.
Blessed the man who fears the
LORD,
who greatly delights in his
commands.
His posterity shall be mighty
upon the earth;
the upright generation shall
be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who is
gracious and lends to those in need.
Well for the man who is
gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with
justice;
He shall never be moved;
the just one shall be in
everlasting remembrance.
R. Blessed the man who is
gracious and lends to those in need.
An evil report he shall not
fear;
his heart is firm, trusting
in the LORD.
His heart is steadfast;
he shall not fear till he
looks down upon his foes.
R. Blessed the man who is
gracious and lends to those in need.
Lavishly he gives to the
poor,
his generosity shall endure
forever;
his horn shall be exalted in
glory.
R. Blessed the man who is
gracious and lends to those in need.
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Psalm 112, is a
wisdom psalm which rejoices over actions in accordance with the Law. These strophes single out acts of generosity,
pointing to God’s call to share good fortune with the poor in acts of charity.
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Gospel: John 12:24-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Amen, amen, I say to
you,
unless a grain of wheat falls
to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of
wheat;
but if it dies, it produces
much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses
it,
and whoever hates his life in
this world
will preserve it for eternal
life.
Whoever serves me must follow
me,
and where I am, there also
will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever
serves me."
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Commentary on Jn 12:24-26
Jesus has made his final entry into
Jerusalem. His hour is at hand and, in the presence of Gentiles as well
as his disciples he reflects on his salvific mission. St. John’s passage,
given here, is foundational to our understanding of the paschal mystery. Using
the analogy of the grain of wheat, the Lord invites us to his own sacrifice.
"Beautifully, Christ begins to
elucidate the mystery of his atoning death. If it be thought strange that
he must die in order to bring life, let it be remembered that this paradox
already exists in nature. The grain of wheat left to itself produces
nothing; only when it appears to have died and has been buried does it bring
forth fruit - in far greater abundance than itself (cf. 1
Corinthians 15:36)." [5]
Out of the Lord's analogy, wheat
that comes from the seemingly dead and buried seed becomes the eucharistic sacrifice.
Into the body's death to sin in baptism, we are invited to share the salvation
that comes from following Christ from death to life.
CCC: Jn 12:24 2731
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Reflection:
While St. Stephen may have
been the first deacon of the Church (and first martyr), St. Lawrence, whose feast
we celebrate today, epitomizes that role in ministry, ancient and modern.
Tradition holds that St. Lawrence was a deacon at the time when St. Sixtus II was Pontiff. During the persecution of
Emperor Valerian, in a valiant attempt to continue the support of the poor,
Pope Sixtus handed over the wealth of the church of Rome to his archdeacon,
Lawrence, as he was taken to his own martyr’s death.
According to St. Ambrose, as
St. Sixtus II was being led away to his own martyrdom, St. Lawrence cried out
to him: “Father, where are you going
without your son? O holy priest, where are you going in such a hurry without
your deacon?” (a model of the vow of obedience taken by deacons of today to
their bishops [and their successors]). Three days later, when St. Lawrence was
arrested, the prosecutor demanded that he hand over the church’s treasure. “He
promised to do so. The following day he returned with some poor people. He was
asked where the treasures were that he had to bring. He showed the poor people,
saying: ‘These are the Church's treasures. What greater treasures could Christ
have than those of whom he said: 'Whatever
you have done to one of these little ones, you have done to me' (Matthew 25:40)?” [6]
In the face of the threat to
his life, St. Lawrence openly continued his acts of charity in the name of
Christ and his church, until his arrest and ultimate torture and martyrdom.
Tradition also holds that, while he was being roasted to death, he said to his
torturers: “Turn me over; I’m done on that side.” We must admire his sense of
humor, and the effect this must have had on those who participated in the act.
By his actions, St. Lawrence not only gained for himself a prominent place
among the saints, but he also provides for us a superior example of what it
means to follow Christ’s instruction and example.
St. Paul instructs the
Corinthians, in the first reading, to be generous with their gifts. These must
include the material wealth of the community, and the spiritual wealth of the
grace they are given. Sharing with those less fortunate is the Pauline response
to Christ’s instruction from St. John’s Gospel: to sow the wheat that is both
food for the body, and through the Gospel and Eucharist, food for the soul. In
this complex imagery the sower becomes the wheat that dies and rises.
Today we are challenged once
more to share what we have been given, whether that is material wealth or
spiritual abundance. For the deacons of the church (myself included), this
message needs to bring a sense of renewal to the ministry in which we were
called: to receive the Gospel of Christ whose heralds we become, to teach what
we were given, and to practice what we teach.
Pax
In other years: Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
[1]
The picture is “The Charity of St Lawrence” by
Bernardo Strozzi,1639-40.
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the
psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[4]
See NAB footnote on 2 Corinthians 9:6ff.
[5]
Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 63:131, p. 449.
[6]
Saint Ambrose (c.340-397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church, On the
duties of the clergy I, 84; II, 28; PL 16,84.
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