August 10, 2026
Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
Lectionary: 618
Reading 1
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.
Responsorial Psalm
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness
but will have the light of life, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081026.cfm
Commentary on 2
Corinthians 9:6-10; John 12:24-26
The Gospel reading for the feast is from John and presents
an ideal image of Laurence. In a passage just before today’s reading begins, we
are told by John that some ‘Greeks’ had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover. They were non-Jews who had probably converted to the Jewish faith. It
is clear, too, that in Jerusalem they had heard people talking about Jesus and
what he was saying and doing.
So they approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in
Galilee. They may have approached him because ‘Philip’ (Filippos,
literally ‘one who loves horses’) was a Greek name. They also probably knew
that Philip was with Jesus, so they said to him, “We would like to see Jesus.”
Philip then went to consult with his fellow disciple, Andrew (another Greek
name, Andreas) and they both went to Jesus with the request.
It is at this point that our reading begins. Jesus answers
their request in what seems a very strange and enigmatic manner. He says three
things:
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it
bears much fruit.
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate
their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there
will my servant be also.
In fact, this is a very clear answer to the ‘Greeks’. They
asked to ‘see’ Jesus, but just to lay one’s eyes on him was not to see him. To
‘see’ Jesus fully or properly requires that one have an insight and
understanding of the inner mind of Christ. So Jesus cannot be ‘seen’ or
understood unless one grasps the purpose and meaning of his death and
resurrection. In order for it to be fruitful, a grain of wheat has to fall into
the ground and effectively be disintegrated, so that it will be transformed
into a new plant which in time will reproduce itself many times over.
This is exactly what Jesus will do. He will surrender his
life through his suffering and death on the cross, only to rise again in new
life. But not only that, he will bring new life to countless numbers of people
who, inspired by him, will become other ‘Christs’. And that is what we
celebrate in the Eucharist when we take the bread, the fruit of wheat grains,
and say the words:
This [bread] is my Body which will be
handed over for you.
And we then share this Bread as a sign of our total
identification with the Vision and the Way of Jesus.
That is why Jesus says that not only must he die, but all
who wish to follow his Way will also have to be ready to surrender their lives;
they will have to be grains of wheat losing themselves to bring more life to
others. All who serve Jesus must go his Way, because where Jesus is, his
servant is there too.
All of this, of course, applies beautifully to Laurence, who
gave his life so generously for the sake of the gospel. His death was an
inspiration to large numbers of people who were inspired by his example.
Laurence, like the grain of wheat, fell to the ground and
died, but out of his death, life came for many. Far from being wiped out, the
persecuted Church only flourished and continued to flourish—and it continues to
thrive in easier, but still challenging conditions.
In the First Reading, which is from the Second Letter of
Paul to the Corinthians, he is urging the Christians of Corinth to be “a
cheerful giver”—generous in giving help to the impoverished Christian community
in Jerusalem. As they excel in many Christian virtues, he wants them to excel,
too, in their generosity to their brothers and sisters in need.
Paul says he is not ordering or compelling them, but rather
making the suggestion as a test of their love and concern. And Paul has
previously given the example of Jesus himself, who became poor and emptied
himself so that we might be enriched—enriched in those things which really
matter:
For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich. (2 Cor 8:9)
Laurence was noted for his generosity in helping the poor
and needy. And it is a message that we need to learn and to live, because the
real source of riches is not in accumulating things for ourselves, but in
giving to others from the gifts we have received.
Comments Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0810r/
Monday,
August 10, 2026
Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
Opening Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God,
your Spirit made us your children, confident to call you Father.
Increase your Spirit within us and bring us to our
promised inheritance. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Gospel Reading - John 12: 24-26
Jesus said to his disciples: In
all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it
remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.
Anyone who loves his life loses
it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me, must follow me, and my servant will be with
me wherever I am. If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him.
Reflection
•
This passage contains solemn and crucial words
concerning the modality with which the mission of Jesus and of his disciples
“produces much fruit”. But in this solemn and central declaration of Jesus;
“unless a wheat grain falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single
grain; but if it dies, it yields a large harvest” (v. 24), it is inserted in
that narrative context of 12: 12-36 where the encounter of Jesus as Messiah
with Israel is narrated and the rejection of the Jews of his Messianic
proposal. Which are the principal themes that describe the Messianism of Jesus?
The Jews expected a Messiah who would be a powerful king, who would continue
with the royal style of David and would restore to Israel its glorious past.
Instead, Jesus, places in the centre of his Messianism the gift of his life and
the possibility given to man to be able to accept God’s project on his life.
•
The story of a seed. The gift of his life, as a
crucial characteristic of his Messianism, Jesus outlines it with a mini
parable. He describes a central and decisive event of his life drawing from the
agricultural environment from where he takes the images to render his parables
interesting and immediate. It is the story of a seed: a small parable to
communicate with the people in a simple and transparent way: a seed begins its
course or journey in the dark meander of the earth, where it is suffocated and
withers but in the Spring, it becomes a green stalk and in the Summer a spike
charged with grain. The focal points of the parable are two: the production of
much fruit; the finding of eternal life. The seed that breaks through the
darkness of earth has been interpreted by the First Fathers of the Church as a
symbolical reference to the Incarnation of the Son of God. In the ground it
seems that the vital force of the seed is destined to get lost because the seed
withers and dies. But then the surprise of nature: in the summer when the
spikes turn golden, the profound secret of that death is revealed. Jesus knows
that death is becoming imminent, threatens on his person, even though he does
not see it as a beast that devours. It is true that it has the characteristics
of darkness and of being ripped, but for Jesus it contains the secret force
typical of childbirth, a mystery of fecundity and of life. In the light of this
vision one can understand another expression used by Jesus: “Anyone who loves
his life will lose it and anyone who hates his own life in this world will
preserve it for eternal life”. Anyone who considers his own life as a cold
property to be lived in egoism is like a seed closed in itself and without any
perspective of life. On the contrary who “hates his life”, a very sharp Semitic
expression to indicate the renunciation of only fulfilling oneself applied to
the axis of the meaning of an existence on the donation to others; it is only
thus that life becomes creative: it is a source of peace, of happiness and of
life. It is the reality of the seed that sprouts. But the reader can also get
in the mini parable of Jesus another dimension, that of the “Passover”. Jesus
knows that in order to lead humanity to the threshold of divine love he has to
go through the dark way of death on the cross. On the trail of this life the
disciple also faces his own “hour”, that of death, with the certainty that it
will lead to eternal life, that is to say, to full communion with God.
•
In synthesis. The story of the seed is that of
dying in order to multiply itself; its function is that of a service to life.
The annihilation of Jesus is comparable to the seed of life buried in the
earth. In Jesus’ life to love is to serve and to serve is to lose oneself in
the life of others, to die to oneself in order to allow others to live. While
his “hour” is approaching, the conclusion of his mission, Jesus assures his own
with the promise of a consolation and of a joy without end, accompanied, by
every type of disturbance or trouble. He gives the example of the seed that has
to wither and of the woman who has to give birth in the pangs of childbirth.
Christ has chosen the cross for himself and for his own: anyone who wants to be
his disciple is called to share his same itinerary. He has always spoken to his
disciples in a radical way: «Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it;
but anyone who loses his life for my sake, will save it” (Lk 9: 24).
Personal Questions
•
Does your life express the gift of yourself? Is
it a seed of love that makes love be born? Are you aware that to be a seed of
joy, so that there will be joy in the field of wheat grain the moment of sowing
is necessary?
•
Can you say that you have chosen the Lord if
later you do not embrace the cross with him? When the hard struggle breaks out
in you between “yes” or “no”, between courage and fear, between faith and
unbelief, between love and egoism, do you feel lost thinking that such
temptations are not suitable to those who follow Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
All goes well for one who lends generously, who is honest in
all his dealing; for all time to come he will not stumble, for all time to come
the upright will be remembered. (Ps 112: 5-6)
Saint Laurence, Deacon and Martyr
Very little historical facts are known of Laurence, but his
existence and martyrdom in the year 258 are recorded in the very ancient Depositio
Martyrum. Early legends say Laurence, born about 225, was from Huesca in
Tarragon, Spain, and that he received religious instruction from Archdeacon
Sixtus in Rome. When Sixtus became Bishop of Rome and Pope in 257, Laurence was
ordained a deacon and placed in charge of administering church goods and care
of the poor. As an archivist and treasurer, he was later made patron of
librarians.
Pope Sixtus II was martyred a few days before Laurence
during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian. As a deacon, Laurence was known
for his generosity and care for the poor. However, other details, including the
famous roasting on the gridiron, are not deemed historically accurate,
especially as the instrument of capital punishment at the time was the sword.
The gridiron story is believed to have been derived from a Phrygian source through
the Acts of Vincent of Saragossa. Laurence’s own Acts, with vivid dialogue and
imaginary details, powerfully contributed to the cult of Rome’s most famous
post-apostolic martyr, as did the writings of Prudentius, Ambrose and
Augustine.
In Rome, five ancient basilicas are dedicated to him,
including one built over his tomb and known as St Laurence Outside the Walls.
His name is listed in the First Eucharistic Prayer and, wherever the Roman Rite
is used, the cult of Laurence is to be found.
Pope Vitalian sent relics of Laurence to King Oswiu of
Northumbria in England in the 7th century. Among places in England dedicated to
Laurence are the infirmary chapel at Wearmouth (8th century) and the
Anglo-Saxon church at Bradford-on-Avon. Before the Reformation, English
dedications numbered 228. There was also a strong cult of Laurence in Spain,
which claimed him as a native, and the Escorial in Madrid is dedicated to him.
In the Ravenna mosaics (the mausoleum of Galla Placidia), Laurence is shown
carrying a long cross on his shoulder and a Gospel book in his hand as he walks
towards the fire and the gridiron.
The gridiron is his most common emblem, but sometimes also a
purse of money to recall his almsgiving. On occasion, he is paired with
Stephen, also a deacon. The most complete cycle of his life was painted by Fra
Angelico for the chapel of Nicholas V in the Vatican, and there are
stained-glass windows of his life in the cathedrals of Bourges and Poitiers in
France.
Comments Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0810s/
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét