Today as we celebrate the feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr, we’re called to reflect upon the treasures of the Church, writes Deacon Jim Collom, pictured, of Saint Martha parish in Okemos.
Deacon Lawrence was entrusted by Pope Sixtus II with overseeing the entire charitable activities of the Diocese of Rome in the early third century. This Holy Deacon administered the goods of the Church and saw to the needs of the poor, the orphaned and the widowed.
He was persecuted by the Emperor Valerian in 258 and was told he would be spared death if he would present to the emperor, the treasures of the Church. After a few days, Deacon Lawrence presented the treasures of the Church to Valerian; the poor, the afflicted, the sick and the marginalized. For proclaiming this truth, the Holy Deacon was martyred; burnt alive on the gridiron.
Today, like in the early Church, deacons are entrusted in a particular way to care for these treasures of the Church. Each day deacons, configured to Christ the Servant, undertake the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as a testament that those being served are the true treasures of the Church.
Pope Saint Leo the Great in a homily wrote of Deacon Lawrence, “The flames could not overcome the charity of Christ; and the fire burning him without was weaker than the one he had burning within him.” Today as we reflect upon Saint Lawrence and the treasures of the Church, let us be unafraid to proclaim the Gospel and to serve the treasures of our Church; unafraid of the temporal consequences of proclaiming the Truth that is Jesus Christ. May the fire that lives within each of us, the fire of Love, consume us so wholly and so completely that we too would be willing to do as Deacon Lawrence did.
May he intercede for us today and always.
Saint Lawrence, pray for us!
