Episode 5
YEAR OF MY MID LIFE
- ADDING SAINT LAWRENCE TO TEAM MDJ
Some of the best storytellers on the plains of Kansas in the mid 50s, especially when it came making the lives of the saints come alive, were the beautiful nuns teaching at Holy Family Catholic School in (rural) Eudora, Kansas. Ranked as one of the best storytellers about the heroic saints was Sister Maria Goretti (...who likes spaghetti) . This 5’ nun could hold her 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students spellbound as she recounted the heroic deeds of many saints who had gone before us. Most intriguing to the students were those ordinary men and women who were so dedicated to Christ and His message that they were willing to undergo martyrdom, dying for their faith.
Once upon a time, about 200 years after Christ died on the cross and then rose from the dead, most of His followers were called Christians and they were hated and despised by just about everyone. This prejudice against the Christians was especially true for about the first 300 years where non Christians, especially the Romans, would hunt, torture and kill these Christians just for fun.
At one time, a man named Lawrence of Rome was one of the Romans who would join in the torturing and killing of the Christians. Lawrence took part in one torture which took a dreaded Christian and tied various parts of his body to horses and then the horses would be directed to tear the body apart, limb by limb. (This part of the story was especially intriguing to the minds of second grade boys).
After one of these murders, Lawrence was so moved by the faith of the tortured Christian that he left that line of work and became a Christian himself. Not only did he become a Christian but he was ordained as one of the deacons in Rome. One one day the Romans killed the other six deacons of the church in Rome but left Lawrence for the last since they thought that he controlled all the money in the Church. The Romans wanted all of the treasurers of the Church but Lawrence said that it would take three days to gather all of that the Church had and so the Romans agreed.
Meanwhile, the wise Lawrence decided to take all the monies and precious items in the Church and distribute among the poor and destitute of the city. Then on the third day when the Romans were expecting to receive gold, silver, coins they questioned Lawrence as to where these treasures of the Church were. At that point, Lawrence paraded the poor, the destitute in front of the Romans announcing that these (people) were the jewels, the real treasures of the Church.
Whether the Romans just failed to see the truth of Lawrence’s proclamation or maybe they just lost their sense of humor (since they were expecting hoards of gold and other fine things) they decided to put Lawrence to a long-protracting, torturous death over a slow fire on an open grill. (Again, the minds of 2nd grade boys quicken).
It is said that Lawrence talked to his captors and torturers through this long, painful ordeal. About halfway through his martyrdom, Lawrence turns to his tormentors and exclaimed, “Well, I am done cooking on this side ...so now you can turn me over on the grill”
After they flipped his body to start the slow cooking on the other side, the torture continued for several hours and our saint continued to talk to his tormentors. St. Lawrence’s last words was a prayer that God would eventually convert all of Rome to Christianity.
Of course, this story of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence could be told so much better by Sister Maria Goretti (who likes spaghetti) to just about any audience.
Again, here is a saint who knew suffering. He knew pain. He has experience. Not only that, this Saint can teach us all about adding a little humor to situations that seem insurmountable. (With God all things are possible). Surely this man of God would play a valuable role on Team MDJ in this Year of my Mid Life and will make a welcome addition to the roster of the Intercessors.
My older brother reminded me that in the sacristy there at Holy Family Catholic CHurch in Eudora was a stained glass window of the grilling of St. Lawrence. Instead of having Sr. Maria Goretti tell the story of St. Lawrence his lesson was taught by Fr. Miller, pastor of the Church. Akso Note: The city of Lawrence Kansas is only seven miles from the rural town of Eudora, BTW: One of my younger brothers and a nephew is named after St. Lawrence.
ReplyDelete