GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER


FEAST OF SAINT LAURENCE, DEACON, MARTYR

2 Cor 9:6-10; Ps 112:1-2,5-9; Jo 12:24-26

Giving All to God the Father

We understand our Christian life as a journey into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. If the knowledge of Jesus Christ is the knowledge of God the Father, it also follows that our Christian journey is a journey into the knowledge of God as our Father. Every knowledge is transformational, even knowledge of physical or natural things. The more we know about creatures, the better we relate to our environment every day. Our belief in God conditions our life on earth, for God created all things by his word. Our scientific knowledge also enlightens our faith and lends more credence to our faith in Jesus Christ. If scientific knowledge transforms us and makes us more enlightened on our Christian faith, our spiritual experience and knowledge do even more. Spiritual enlightenments from the word of God are like food and drink we take to enhance our spiritual growth and development. The word of God acts in this capacity. The word of God is the spiritual food we use to feed our spirits and grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and God the Father. This underscores the necessity of prayer, reading and meditation on the word of God, and the reception of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

The indicator of our growth in spirit is our easy and ready trust in the word of God and in the Father’s providential care. Excessive anxiety about worldly things and fear of the unknown are signs of shallow spiritual life or immaturity of faith. Saints Paul and Peter, understanding this, urge us to pray when these indicators appear. We are to hand over our worries and anxieties to the Father in prayer. Phil 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Peter has this to say in his first letter 5:7, “Cast all your worries on him because he cares for you.” So, fear and worries are indicators of our little faith or immaturity in the spirit of the Son; they are also invitations for us to pray and grow spiritually. Conversely, our readiness to offer ourselves to God is an indicator of a mature Christian faith, for it shows our likeness to Christ and to the Father. Paul bears witness to this. “Do not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  

The sacrifice of self is the surest indicator of our maturity in spiritual life; It shows how far or deep we have entered into the mysteries of Jesus Christ. The core of the mysteries of Christ is his sacrifice of himself for our redemption and restoration to God the Father. In the same vein, he reveals the Father’s prodigality to us. Based on this deep and mystical understanding, we have posited that God is the Sacrifice; our Christian vocation in Christ is to participate in the divine sacrifice. Through this participation, we are made perfectly like God. The words of our Lord in the Gospel support these statements. “I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground 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 the eternal life.” Saint Laurence is judged perfect on this scale of divine love, for he offered his life totally to God and his Church. He was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome; he was executed on 10 August 258, four days after that of Pope Sixtus II and his companions. He is reputed to be a Spaniard from Toledo. Emperor Constantine built a basilica over his tomb fifty years after his death, and the anniversary of his death is celebrated as a solemn feast far more than that of Pope Sixtus II. His death must have made a great impression on the people; little is now known about the circumstances of his martyrdom.

Let us pray: O God, giver of that ardour of love for you by which Saint Laurence was outstandingly faithful in service and glorious in martyrdom, grant that we may love what he loved and put into practice what he taught. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  

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