10th August, 2013: Remembering St. Lawrence, the Deacon-Martyr
The
best of all giving, is giving of oneself! Giving of one’s abundance,
giving of whatever little that one has and giving even if one does not have enough for oneself – these
are praise worthy in their respective order. But the highest of all giving is
Self-giving. Celebrating the Deacon-martyr, St. Lawrence, we are reminded of the
early Christian communities that were so much characterized by persons who were
blessed with the special charism of Giving of their own selves, apart from what
they possessed. They were cheerful givers, and so we find their numbers kept
growing unprecedentedly. The very spirit that they radiated held captive those
who saw them and multitudes were drawn to emulate it. They were ready and
willing to die to themselves that Christ may come alive in them! St.Paul’s
words were true in so many of those early Christians – “I live, it is no
longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20) and “for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). These were not mere catchy sayings;
they were true lived experiences and we witness it in great martyrs like St.
Stephen, the apostles and St. Paul himself. St. Lawrence follows suit very
closely later in the third century. After all, they had but one model who had invaded and conquered their minds, hearts and spirits - Jesus the ultimate personification of self-giving - the grain of seed that chose to fall to the ground, that it may abound in its fruits: we are the fruits and let us be worthy of the grain which has borne us.