Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr
In the 3-6 year old atrium that meets on Sunday mornings, I have a lesson I give during Lent for the older children about the grain of wheat that is the focus of today's gospel (John 12:24-26). I use it to help them think about how Jesus dies but rises again, and gives us new life. We grow wheat seeds over a period of about six weeks, and we dig them up each week to see what is happening. At the end of the six weeks, I also show them a fully grown wheat stalk, full of seeds, but also dry and yellowed, not at all like the green shoots we've been examining. We compare the seeds and we see that the seeds are like the ones we've been growing.
This year I asked, "What do you think would happen if the plant never got yellow, and dry, and dead-looking?" The children replied, "Oh, there wouldn't be any seeds. And then there wouldn't be any green things." And one child continued, "And then there wouldn't be any life at all!"
These young children got the mystery of life and death, I think better than I do. They can see that death does not mean the end, but it means the beginning of more and more life, more and more possibilities for other plants to take root and grow.
One year, I brought out this lesson when I learned that one of the five-year olds had had a grandparent die recently. She listened closely as we talked about this lesson. At the end of the lesson, she said: "My grandma is giving life even though she's not here. She makes me remember to be good." (Her answer made me choke up and cry, but she was very happy to think of her grandmother continuing to be life-giving even after her death.)
Indeed, living in God's kingdom means recognizing that we are God's small seeds, called to be fruitful and grow and grow and grow. The first reading (Second Corinthians 9:6-10) reminds us that those who give abundantly - even at the high cost of life - are those who bear abundant fruit. That fruit is most definitely the fruit of love, and goodness, and generosity and hospitality and all the other good things we aim to be.
As we observe today's feast in honor of Saint Lawrence, who was martyred for his faith, we confront face-to-face that life here and now will end, but that even death can be fruitful and give witness to God's great love. Some traditions have it that Saint Lawrence was martyred for defying government authorities who wanted the "treasures of the church", but that Lawrence instead gave the treasures to the poor. His love and witness led to others becoming Christians and demonstrating God's love too.
Today, let us be thankful for witnesses who have gone before us and sown seeds of love and generosity, and let us aim to be seeds of love and generosity ourselves.
- Jana M. Bennett