Readings: 2 Cor. 9:6-10, Ps.112, John 12:24-26
Fr. Rev. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
WHEN A SOUL DIES TO THE THINGS OF THIS PASSING WORLD IT YIELDS A RICH HARVEST OF HEAVENLY THINGS
The way people are so engrossed with acquiring the things of this passing world at the detriment of things that edifice the soul makes me wonder if we are actually learning anything from the lives of those who have passed away from this world. Have we taken time to reflect on where all of us and the beautiful things of this world be in the next ten, twenty, forty, eighty and hundred years for those who are strong? I believe the answer to this question will leave a deep silence in our souls as it exposes the foolishness of human greed and selfishness.
Little wonder Jesus in our Gospel passage today tells us that 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 eternal life.
Here, Jesus is telling us that the only way to save our lives is by total detachment from the things of this passing world. We must sacrifice the pleasurable things of this world for the sake of the heavenly kingdom because they are not going to follow us when the time comes for us to leave this world. For attachment to things of this world is a distraction from the things of heaven. But when a soul dies to the things of this passing world, it yields a rich harvest of heavenly things.
Therefore, what are the things I value so much that need to die in order for me to live more fully in Christ? Because, like a wheat grain, we must sacrifice by dying from the things of this world in order to yield fruit that will sustain us for eternity. Hence, we need to ask ourselves today, what does God require from us in this world? Why are we in this world and where are we going for this world?
Dear friends, all the Lord wants from us is to serve him, to love him and to love our neighbours as well. And Jesus says in our Gospel, If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. For if anyone serves me, my Father will honour him. This is exactly what St. Lawrence, whose memorial we celebrate today, did. Lawrence was one of the deacons of Rome and, as such, was greatly involved in the many important decisions and works in the very heart of the Church in Rome. During the persecution, St. Lawrence was confronted by the Roman prefect through Emperor Valerian, who demanded that he surrender all the properties and material wealth of the Church.
Lawrence assembled before the Emperor all the poor, the infirm, the sick and the destitute and presented all of them before the Roman prefect as the true property and wealth of the Church. Then, the Emperor was filled with anger, he ordered that Lawrence should be arrested, imprisoned, and eventually was martyred by being roasted alive on a gridiron, which was made even hotter by the anger of the prefects.
As they were burning him, he joked and asked his torturers to turn him over since he was “done” enough on that side. The deacon cheerfully offered himself to the Lord Jesus. Tradition has it that most people in Rome became Christian as a result of the faithful life and the death of this one humble deacon, who let the seed of his life die in order to yield a rich Heavenly harvest.
Today the life of St. Lawrence is a great encouragement to us, calling us to the sacrificial life of love for God, the poor and the Church. And St. Paul, in our first reading today, tells us about the great rewards awaiting all those who had been generous in giving and loving the poor and the needy. For the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide us with all the seed we need and make the harvest of our good deeds a larger one, just like St. Lawrence who showed us a great example by his great generosity, love, genuine concern for the poor and the Church.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, Today, we saw in St. Lawrence a great example of how to live, and how to die faithfully to the Gospel. As we reflect on his life, may we come to love you more and strive to detach ourselves from the negative influence of pleasurable things in this passing world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed week.
