August's saint of the month is St. Lawrence. He was a deacon and martyr in the first Christian century during a time when the first persecutions of the Church were starting to ramp up. Rome was infiltrated by immorality and even a form of abortion. St. Lawrence's life was much like our own in some ways. He lived in a time of persecution, a time where immorality was normal, and a time where Christianity was not valued or seen as culturally acceptable. During Lawrence's ministry as a deacon, all of the bishops, priests, and deacons of the Church were sentenced to death by the Emperor. One day the Emperor summoned Lawrence and offered him a way to escape the coming executions. The Emperor told Deacon Lawrence to bring him all of the Church's treasure in exchange for his life. Deacon Lawrence asked for three days to retrieve the treasures. When he returned to the Emperor three days later, he brought with him many of Rome's poorest citizens who had become Christians, saying that they were the Church's true treasure. The Emperor then decided that the typical execution was not enough for Deacon Lawrence and that He was to be burnt to death on a grate. When the day of the execution came and Lawrence was being burned alive, he famously said, "Turn me over, I'm done on this side!" to those who were performing the execution. Talk about being joyful unto death!
As young Catholic people living in an extremely secular world, we need to be prepared to both live and die for our faith. We also need to recognize that the poor and underprivileged in our society are infinitely more valuable than all the treasures of the world. St.Lawrenceis a wonderful example of someone who realized these things. He knew that His Catholic faith possessed the fullness of faith and of Truth and He was willing to give up his life for it and for Jesus Christ.
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