Before Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, New England had appeared in one Super Bowl and lost. Then Bill Belichick and Tom Brady came along and led the Patriots to 11 Super Bowls and 6 Championships in 20 years. This data merely makes the connection between the Patriots and today’s saint. The connection: a gridiron. The saint: Lawrence the Martyr.
To me, coach Bill Belichick always looks sad ... even when he wins.
St. Lawrence was never sad, even when he was being grilled to death on a gridiron. Remember the stunning line attributed to him: “It’s time to turn me over, I am done on this side.”
In the first centuries of Christianity, Roman authorities labeled Christians variously as outlaws, cannibals, arsonists, drunkards, idolaters and heretics from Judaism.
However, they radiated unselfish love. Romans were surprised and impressed that the Christians did not abort their babies. They took care of widows, orphans, the poor, and the sick of strangers and non-Christians alike. Most surprising of all, they were cheerful givers even unto death.
Christians were loyal to their one God, and would suffer persecution and death rather than deny Christ crucified. They increased in number not by force of arms but by attraction to the beauty, goodness, and truth of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Today, Jesus tells us a short parable followed by three life lessons. The parable: a grain of wheat sown in a muddy field, growing up and yielding a good crop. The lessons:
- Life comes only through death. When we die to our agenda, we are transformed into loving agents of the mercy and grace of God.
- The true treasure of the Church is its Lord and His presence among us in the poor and the humble.
- Greatness comes through service. This explains why the world still honors and cherishes the memory of great souls like Lawrence, Damien of Molokai, Teresa of Kolkata, and Dorothy Day.
Where does this rich treasure of our faith come from? Almost always from our family, the seedbed of all that is good, beautiful and true.
Let us protect, build up, nourish and cherish the family as God’s great masterpiece. Amen.
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Father Willy's inspirational homily was recorded live this morning during Mass at the Father Peyton Center. Please view the video on our Facebook page. (You don't need a Facebook account to view.)
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