St. Lawrence’s faith in entrusting his life to Jesus even in the face of martyrdom by fire, which is what eventually happened, shows us what it really means to be faithful through trials and tribulations. How can a man stand firm in his faith even when threatened with death? This is a good question and it deserves our attention as it is applicable to the lives of thousands of men and women martyrs of the Church down through the centuries. How do we make sense of their lives in the context of our own struggles to be faithful to God?
Each of us has to answer that question according to our own faith and situations. My answer and your answer may have similar elements but they will not be exactly the same. The Church tells us that the blood of martyrs is the seedbed of faith. This may not be much consolation to the martyrs but it certainly gives us the Christian perspective on the nature of our faith and the demands it may make of us.
We need to remember that God always grants us the grace to be faithful to His will and never abandons us in our trials and sufferings. Remember, Jesus died for us while we were sinners with no guarantee that we would even accept His offer of salvation. Martyrdom cannot be understood from a purely worldy perspective as most of its roots are planted in the reality of heaven, not earth. Too often we spend our time analyzing spiritual realities with our roots anchored on the earth and not enough reaching out to heaven. Martyrdom is a prophetic witness as to what is important in life, which is our eternal life with God. Unless we believe this, we will never understand how a martyr can accept his or her calling.
As we remember St. Lawrence, let us thank him that his sacrifice stands as a beacon of prophetic witness to the values of life that truly matter: faithfulness to God, truth and so on. Let us seek to be faithful to these things in our own lives.
Reflection Question:
What are the things I really value in life? To what am I committed the most?
Holy Spirit, help me to truly believe that the things that really matter are those things that will bring us to heaven.
St. Thiento & Companions, pray for us.
