The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the generosity with which we die to self for others on our journey with Christ.
The seed dies to new life
The reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians places God’s Indescribable Gift as a model for one who sows bountifully and will also reap bountifully.
* [9:8–10] 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 Cor 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.1
Psalm 112 shares the Blessings of the Righteous.
* [Psalm 112] An acrostic poem detailing the blessings received by those who remain close to God by obedience to the commandments. Among their blessings are children (Ps 112:2), wealth that enables them to be magnanimous (Ps 112:3, 5, 9), and virtue by which they encourage others (Ps 112:4). The just person is an affront to the wicked, whose hopes remain unfulfilled (Ps 112:10). The logic resembles Ps 1; 111.2
In the Gospel of John, we approach the Coming of Jesus’ Hour and reflect that those who love their life lose it.
* [12:24] This verse implies that through his death Jesus will be accessible to all. It remains just a grain of wheat: this saying is found in the synoptic triple and double traditions (Mk 8:35; Mt 16:25; Lk 9:24; Mt 10:39; Lk 17:33). John adds the phrases (Jn 12:25) in this world and for eternal life.3
George Butterfield comments that many of us Catholics would do well to develop St. Lawrence’s sense of humor. It also wouldn’t hurt us to take the long view of history. Martin Luther King, Jr said that the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
Sometimes it is hard to see it bending. Days like today, when we celebrate a lowly deacon who died in 258, help us to see it. Perhaps you have heard the story of Cardinal George at Pope Benedict’s introduction to the world. As he stood out on the balcony with the other cardinals and the new pope, he was looking away from him. Someone asked him what he was doing. He said that he was looking down toward the hill where all of the Roman emperors had lived and was thinking, They are all gone and the successor of St. Peter, the lowly nobody fisherman, is right here in front of me4
Don Schwager quotes “The seed must die before being resurrected,” by Irenaeus, 135-202 A.D.
"A cutting from the vine planted in the ground bears fruit in its season, or a kernel of wheat falling into the earth and becoming decomposed rises and is multiplied by the Spirit of God, who contains all things. And then, through the wisdom of God, it serves for our use when, after receiving the Word of God, it becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ. In the same way our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time. The Word of God grants them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:53). This is so because the strength of God is made perfect in weakness (1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 13:4) in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, or become exalted against God with ungrateful minds."(excerpt from AGAINST HERESIES 5.2.3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 12:24-26 suggests we listen to another great saint, Thérèse of Lisieux. “The most trivial work,” she said, “the least action when inspired by love, is often of greater merit than the most outstanding achievement.”
Of course, that’s not to question the merit of the impressive feats of the saints. But it should encourage each one of us. Every Christian is called to love, and that involves choosing to put someone else’s needs ahead of our own. It’s a kind of death to self that we can experience every day—a “death” that can produce “much fruit” for God’s kingdom because it directly touches the lives of the people around us (John 12:24).mSo how is God calling you to love today? It may be in small ways, but every act of love can make a big difference in someone’s life. Perhaps you will be challenged to show patience to a moody spouse or child. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to give up your favorite food or entertainment as a fast for the conversion of a loved one. Or maybe you will take time to help a friend when you had already planned to do something else.6
Friar Jude Winkler notes that St Lawrence, Deacon and martyr, presented the riches of the Church as the poor people. The Israelites saw sowing as the dying of the seed. Friar Jude reminds us of Jesus' invitation to die to self and live in Him.
The Franciscan Media reflection on St Lawrence Deacon notes the esteem in which the Church holds Lawrence is seen in the fact that today’s celebration ranks as a feast. We know very little about his life. He is one of those whose martyrdom made a deep and lasting impression on the early Church.
Once again we have a saint about whom almost nothing is known, yet one who has received extraordinary honor in the Church since the fourth century. Almost nothing—yet the greatest fact of his life is certain: He died for Christ. We who are hungry for details about the lives of the saints are again reminded that their holiness was after all, a total response to Christ, expressed perfectly by a death like this.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares that contemplative teacher Beatrice Bruteau (1930‒2014) understood domination, what Fr. Richard refers to “power over” others, as the cause of much of the world’s suffering. Jesus by contrast models a loving, self-giving alternative to domination power.
The theme that I believe is basic to many of our political ills is domination. We are all familiar with domination. We see it in the way decisions are made in our families; in the way orders are given at work; in the way social life is structured in our city by gender, race, and wealth; in the way our industry or profession relates to its competitors or its market or its clientele; in the way governmental agencies function. . . . Domination is a relation that does not work the same in both directions. One commands, the other obeys. One shows respect, the other accepts it but does not return it. One gains privileges from which the other is excluded. [1]8
The choice of surrender over domination and self giving over selfishness plants a seed that grows as life in Christ.
References
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