Saint Lawrence lived in the 200s and in 258 a persecution broke out against the church
ordered by Emperor Valian of the Roman Empire first Saint Sixtus of the Pope at the time and
his companions would be taken and they would be martyred but Saint Sixtus would entrust to
Saint Lawrence the administration of the church for the four more days that he would live on this
earth and indeed Saint Pope Sixtus would tell Saint Lawrence that in four days hence he also
would undergo a modest death death
but the emperor and his followers tried to pry from Saint Lawrence the treasures of the church
that were entrusted to his care by Pope Saint Sixtus and so when he was ordered to bring to
them the treasures of the church Saint Lawrence came back with all the lame the blind the poor
and all the members of the mystical body and said these are the treasures of the church for he knew
full well that the earthly treasures that the church was in possession at the
time paled in comparison to the human treasures that is those souls who now had the grace of God
and so Saint Lawrence both performs an act of charity and witnesses to the truth for he tries
to bring Valerian and all those who are persecuting the church to a greater understanding but indeed
they would show themselves to be worldly thinkers and so they would try to ply it from Saint Lawrence
the physical treasures of the church and he would undergo a
terrible ordeal he would be scourged he would be beaten and indeed many of his limbs were broken and
yet Saint Lawrence showed himself to be strong in the love of God for while they tried to break his
will Saint Lawrence persevered in the Holy in Holy Mother Church for he would not allow Valerian in a
certain sense to take possession of his soul by getting him to capitulate in the faith and so Saint
Lawrence was then placed on the infamous grill
in which he would suffer his modest death by being burned to death and here Saint Lawrence shows himself also not to be governed by himself for he transcends by grace the incredible torment that he would undergo while he was being roasted alive indeed so much so that by the grace of God while still experiencing the suffering that he was undergoing he would overcome it in a higher level and would declare I believe I am done on this side flip me over to the next verse
he showed himself
so he showed himself
not to be ruled by other men and not be not to be ruled by his own flesh for he truly
Demonstrates to us that the master of his soul was none other than the Lord and Savior himself
and so he gives us a great example of courage and faith in time of
persecution
and so we should turn to him often and ask him to beg for us the same grace
that we too would be willing to die the agonizing modest death
that heий
died in witness to the church and also to learn from him that great doctrine that the true treasure
that Christ came to claim in this world was not the gold and the silver and the diamonds and the
emeralds and the rubies of this world but rather those souls fallen in our parents Adam and Eve
restored by Christ in his most holy mother most especially at the foot of Calvary and with us
until the end of time to strengthen us in trials and tribulations after he has conquered our soul
in baptism and so let us strive always like Saint Lawrence to preserve this great treasure in our
soul by always keeping our mind on our eternal destiny not being drugged dragged down by the
things of this world as Valerian and many in the Roman Empire were dragged down ultimately Christ
would overcome the Roman Empire and it would be transformed
by the missionary activity of the church that great witness that was given by Saint Lawrence
and all the martyrs of the early church and so the pagan Roman Empire would eventually become
known as the Holy Roman Empire and then the forces of evil would disturb the church and
seek to break it up and then it would be restored by other martyrs and other saints and so this
seems to be the constant lot of Holy Mother Church to be persecuted by those leaders
who have embraced worldly thinking but always to be restored by Christ always appearing more
glorious than in its former days and in its former times and so let us be strengthened by this faith
that no matter what we are asked to suffer for Christ and no matter what joys our Lord has given
us he does so for one purpose and one purpose only that we keep our minds steadfast on where
we are going so that we never despair in the trials and tribulations of the world and that we
never give in to the temptations of this world but we always witness to that most profound truth
that Christ did not come as king to gain the treasures of this world but he came to gain
eternal treasures that is souls conquered by his love on Calvary and persevering in that love by
his grace given to us through the sacraments administered over by Holy Mother Church and
witnessed in the great lives of saints like Saint Lawrence and so let us truly pray to him this day
and we pray that you may be with us in this moment and we pray that you may be with us in this moment
and we pray that you may be with us in this moment and we pray that you may be with us in this moment
that when we too are done we will be flipped over by the enemies but we will not be conquered
by them for we know where we are where we are going and we know what we are about and so
we know that the master of our soul must neither be ourselves nor those who try to lead us from
Christ but Christ must reign over us Christ must guide us Christ must get us through this life
in order that we may enjoy him forever in the life to come
now
and
you
now
you
now
you
now
Thank you.