The Martyr of the Least!

Saturday, August 10, 2024

Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

2 Cor 9:6-10; Jn 12:24-26

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence, the symbol of Christian service and charity.

St. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons who were entrusted with the care of the poor and needy. However, he asserted the difference by turning the very ministry into his life.  

St. Lawrence envisaged a Church that prioritized the empowerment of the poor. 

As per traditional accounts, when St. Lawrence was ordered by the Prefect of Rome to bring the Church’s treasures to him, the saint walked through the streets of Rome to bring the poor and sick, saying, ‘These people are the Church’s treasure.’ 

St. Lawrence made the poor a central concern of his mission. By redefining service to the poor through his dedication as a deacon, St. Lawrence pioneered the mission model of service and charity. By modeling a Church of the Poor way ahead of our times, St. Lawrence certainly shaped her mission objectives right from her early days. 

Interesting traditional accounts are also circulated about St. Lawrence’s martyrdom. When enemies of Christianity led Pope St. Sixtus II for execution, Lawrence followed him weeping, ‘Father, where are you going without your deacon?’ The Pope answered, ‘I am not leaving you my son, in three days you will follow me.’ Three days later, when St. Lawrence presented the invalids of Rome as the Church’s treasure to the Prefect, the infuriated leader ordered Lawrence to be roasted to death. With strength given by God, Lawrence looked at his torturer and joked, ‘Turn me over; I am done on this side.’ St. Lawrence prayed for the conversion of Rome as he was dying. 

In his holiness, St. Lawrence ensured a total response to Christ, especially when he made service to the poor his pastoral priority. 

One can never rule out the inspiration from the life of St. Lawrence when Pope Francis uttered those earnest words, ‘How I would like a Church that is poor and for the poor!’

St. Lawrence, known as the martyr of the least, invites us to find in the neglected and marginalized the presence of God. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar