😇 Saint Lawrence, one of the seven deacons of Rome, exemplified a radical detachment from material goods and the primacy of love for the poor as the true wealth of the Church. When summoned to hand over the ecclesiastical treasures, he distributed them to the needy, presenting them to the prefect as the most precious patrimony. His martyrdom on a gridiron, faced with joy and praise to God, became the supreme testimony of a life that, by 'dying' to the world, blossomed for eternity, embodying the principle of the grain of wheat that dies to bear much fruit.
🙏 Introit (Ps 95:6 | ibid., 1)Conféssio et pulchritúdo in conspéctu eius... Majesty and glory shine before His face; holiness and magnificence are in His sanctuary. Ps. Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
✉️ Epistle (II Cor 9:6-10)
Brethren: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let each one give as he has decided in his heart, not with sadness or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
✨ Gospel (Jn 12:24-26)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
🤔 Reflections
📜 The death of the grain of wheat, to bear fruit, prefigures Christ Himself, who by dying was multiplied in the Church; but it also applies to us, for to follow Him, we must be that grain sown in the earth (St. Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John 51, 2-3). This 'death' to selfishness is made concrete in charity, for whoever sows liberally to the poor does not diminish their goods but transforms them into a heavenly treasure of justice, reaping fruits of divine blessings (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 19 on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians). Thus, contempt for temporal life in favor of charity is the path to the honor that comes from the Father, for mercy makes us imitators of the perfect Father (St. Ambrose, On the Duties of the Clergy, 1, 11, 52).
🗺️ While the Gospel of John places the saying about losing one's life to gain it in the context of Jesus' imminent Passion ('the hour has come'), the Synoptic Gospels insert it directly into the call to discipleship. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this renunciation is explicitly linked to the need to 'deny oneself' and 'take up one's cross' daily to follow Christ (Mk 8:34-35; Lk 9:23-24), offering a practical and continuous context for the sacrifice that John presents more theologically and tied to the 'moment' of Jesus' glorification.
⚓ St. Paul deepens the theology of 'dying to live' in his epistles, going beyond material charity. He describes it as a mystical union with the death and resurrection of Christ, stating: 'I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me' (Galatians 2:19-20). This 'death' is not just an act of renunciation but an ontological transformation, where 'to die is gain' (Philippians 1:21) because it unites us to the destiny of Christ, guaranteeing that 'if we have died with him, we will also live with him' (2 Timothy 2:11).
🏛️ Pontifical documents reinforce the centrality of martyrdom and charity. The Council of Trent teaches that the martyrs, like Lawrence, have 'reigned with Christ' and should be invoked, as their examples incite us to imitate their faith and sacrifice (Session 25). Encyclicals such as Pius XI's Caritate Christi Compulsi (1932) connect active charity, like that of Lawrence, to penance and reparation for the sins of the world, viewing it not as mere philanthropy but as an act of love for God. The encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi by Pius XII (1943) illuminates the promise 'where I am, there will my servant be also,' explaining that as members of the Body of Christ, we participate in the life of the Head, and our suffering and service on earth unite us more intimately to Him in glory.