“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” —2 Cor. 9:6
 
    Today we celebrate the martyr, St. Lawrence. Much of what we know of St. Lawrence is legend. However, we do know that he used church resources to care for the poor. All our Scripture readings today focus on giving and forgiving.
 
    Here again we have that grain of wheat—the image Jesus uses to illustrate what care we must take to bury the grain of wheat so that it dies and produces more grain. Giving our life for the good of others as Jesus is modeling is not always easy. If we are serious about our relationship with God and giving of ourselves, we may also suffer a martyr’s life and eventual death. We may not be burned to death or decapitated, but we will experience suffering when we give our all.
 
    What does martyrdom look like? Any news channel shows us the slow martyrdom of migrants being hauled to New York City from Texas. They do not know where they are going. They have tried to escape death in their own country and now fear for their lives.
 
    People suffer martyrdom when they are forced from their homes because of the economy or the effects of natural disasters. They face the slow martyrdom of fear and uncertainty. 
 
    Then we have the almost daily martyrdom of innocent people being gunned down in their homes and on the streets.
 
    We cannot overlook the martyrdom of people who are victimized through envy and false judgments; whose reputations and way of life have been jeopardized through false accusations.
 
    St. Lawrence gave his life because of his love relationship with Jesus Christ. He forgave his executioners. So, when Jesus asks each of us to allow our grain of wheat—that selfish and unforgiving part of us—to die, we know that we will emerge with patience, acceptance, forgiveness. It’s that “dying” part that is difficult!
   
 Jesus invites us to be caring to all people, not just those of our own kind. He invites us to go that extra mile. Jesus asks us to look within ourselves to realize what latent jealousies and antipathies need to be recognized and buried, then arise as goodness and love. When Jesus says that whoever hates his life will preserve it, he means that we need to do our homework. We need to sit with our God and use the gifts given to us by Jesus: reconciliation, a universal love that encompasses all people, the grace to apologize.
 
Psalm 112 encourages us:
 
“Well for the person who is gracious and lends,
who conducts affairs with justice;”