St. Lawrence-- Great Sense of Humor!

'Morning, class!

I found this image from The Deacon's Bench last Wednesday on the Feast of St Lawrence.  What struck me at first glance was Lawrence's courageous face and the accompanying Office of Readings from St. Augustine on the life of St. Lawrence.

I was then drawn to the Blood of Christ that Lawrence carried and the commentary of how he had shed his own blood for Christ.  In his other hand, he carried the Word of God.  Word and Sacrament!  The people behind him deserve a comment, too, below.

Then I found out that it was created by a permanent deacon that I knew, Lawrence Klimecki of Sacramento.  His professional website is here. He doesn't know me, but just adding his artistic hand to the image made it resonate all the more with yours truly.

There're three things that greatly appeal to me about this deacon-martyr:

1.) His love for the poor: During a persecution against the Church, the authorities ordered Lawrence to bring the treasures of the Church for confiscation.  He gathered the poor and the needy of his day and brought them before his persecutors.  Lawrence then said, "This is the treasure of the Church."

The two figures in the image to his right (our left) seem to signify the care of widows and orphans, while the figure to his left (our right) is a blind man in need.  These figures represent the people of our own time who are our modern day "widows and orphans" and those not just physically blind but spiritually blind, too, and need the love of God.

2.) His sense of humor under agony: Sentenced to a slow death by fire, as his body was being grilled, he was filled with such love for God that he joked out loud and joyfully said, "You can turn me over now....I'm done on this side!"

If you're a cook, then he's a great patron saint for you.

3.) My patron saint from Confirmation bears his name: St. Lawrence Ruiz of Manila is the first canonized Filipino saint.  He was martyred in Japan along with 15 companions.

St. Lawrence, pray for us!

Homework reflection: Who are the "widows and orphans" of our day?

Alright, everyone, you're dismissed.