The Texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today are chosen
for the celebration of the feast of the third century deacon, St Lawrence.
According to legend, he was charged with the responsibility for the material
goods of the Church in Rome and with the distribution of alms to the poor. The
climate of persecution, at the time, and Lawrence stubborn support of the poor instead
of turning over money to support the Empire brought him a martyr’s death. FriarJude Winkler reflects that the texts today call us to be generous in our
giving. The appeal to the Corinthians by Paul in the passage today was to
support the poor and desolate in Jerusalem. We need to be generous with our
material goods to help others. Friar Jude notes that one benefit which generous
people realize is that they live better without the material and wealth which
can come to own us. The giving heart experiences the ever deepening capacity of
the Lover to give. The practice of giving by putting to death our desires and
passions in favour of the needs of the other will be the realization of the
advice in the Gospel of John that the seed must die to bring forth the harvest
of life in the wheat.
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