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| “St Lawrence” by Francisco de Zubrarán,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 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 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: Thursday 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] 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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