Jn 12:24-26
Truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world save it even to everlasting life.
Whoever wants to serve me, let him follow me and wherever I am, there shall my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
REFLECTION
We know very little about St. Lawrence that can be said to be historically certain. We know that he was one of the seven deacons of the church of Rome around the year 250. This means that he had some role in the temporal administration of that church as some kind of finance officer. We also know that he died a martyr’s death in the year 257 during the persecution of Emperor Valerian.
On this feast of St. Lawrence, let us have a thought of appreciation and gratitude for all the many people around us whose often inglorious and unpublicized dedication make our lives orderly, comfortable, harmonious, productive. True, an accountant’s work rarely provides the stuff for great romance and drama, and we seldom imagine them as “riding away into the sunset” yet, somebody has to pay the bills… And that somebody is often, in his or her quiet manner, as true a martyr of the daily task as any Lawrence of Rome ever was.
Let us appreciate our temporal administrators for their invaluable contribution to the cause of Christ. They might be unsung heroes, but heroes they are just the same.
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