Last Updated on March 3, 2023 by GMC
Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
2 Corinthians 9:6-10; John 12:24-26
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.
“God loves a cheerful giver,” just like himself. Out of crushed grain comes abundant fruit, and out of death, eternal life.
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.”
Trinitarian abundance is the law of the universe. Magnanimous fruits like St. Lawrence the Deacon burst from the cruciform tree of life, smashed into the earth, and produced more fruit. “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian). The tree of saints began as a tiny “mustard seed” in the womb of the Virgin and has never stopped growing.
On the iron grill, the wise-crackling Lawrence quipped, “Turn me over, I’m done on this side!” revealing the laughing faces of the Trinity.
“In the heart of the Trinity the Father laughs and gives birth to the Son. The Son laughs back at the Father and gives birth to the Spirit. The whole Trinity laughs and gives birth to us.”
Meister Eckhart
A party of cheerful givers ‘round the Divine Comedians toasted to the roast as he spun out of earth’s fire into the fire of eternal love.