Feast of St. Lawrence

The feast of St. Lawrence (August 10th) falls on a Sunday this year, which means that in churches where St. Lawrence is not the principal patron, his feast will be skipped in favor of the celebration of the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This does not mean, however, that we should miss this annual opportunity to reflect upon his life and to seek his guidance and intercession in our lives. For those of you unfamiliar with the life of St. Lawrence, he is revered in many places in the world, but especially in Rome (I have been to his tomb there) because of his heroic virtue. St. Lawrence was martyred in the 3rd Century four days after Pope Sixtus II who ordained him deacon. The legend of Lawrence's life involves his receiving an ultimatum from the emperor to gather and hand over the treasures of the Church. Lawrence responded by selling anything the Church had of value, then giving the money to the poor, and in turn presenting the poor to the emperor, introducing them as the 'real' treasure of the Church. St. Lawrence is a model deacon, passionately interested in showing charity to the poor, and of course, is revered as a man of great virtue and courage. St. Lawrence, pray for us, and help us not to be afraid to lose our lives in obedience to Christ's call to leave everything and follow Him!