Thomas Griffin 8/10/23 (For Crisis Magazine)
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Persecution and hostility towards the disciples of Jesus is not a novel reality. When a culture such as ours condemns the very nature of objective truth and the need for God there is no wonder why faithful Americans can feel as if their way of life is being attacked. If being faithful in 2023 means that you are at odds with the world, then how should one proceed?
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence who was born around A.D. 225 and later became a deacon serving under Pope Saint Sixtus II. His main role as a deacon was to give aid to the poor and to the needy in Rome. He was in charge of the charitable efforts to widows, orphans and the poor for the pope. In A.D. 258, Emperor Valerian published an edict that stated that all deacons, priests and bishops must be put to death. When the pope was arrested and was on the way to his beheading, Lawrence followed after him and asked him, “Father, where are you going without your deacon?” Pope Sixtus responded to Lawrence telling him that in three days he would follow in the same footsteps.
The Latin roots of the word persecution (persequi) literally means “to follow through.” In this true sense, Lawrence would be persecuted. He was going to be given the chance to follow through with his belief in Christ and to follow his pope and spiritual father through to martyrdom. Perhaps, this is why Jesus says that the persecuted are the blessed ones (Matthew 5:11-12). They follow Jesus most closely.
Over the course of the next three days, Lawrence gave away all of his money and possessions to the poor. He also began to sell expensive church vessels to give more money to those in need as well. Lawrence’s move to sell everything quickly spread and the emperor was willing to allow Lawrence to live if he would hand over the treasures of the church. He agreed, at first, and spent time gathering all of the poor and outcasts that he could find. He brought them to the emperor and explained that these are the treasures of Christ’s Church. The emperor condemned Lawrence to death in a gruesome manner: he was to be placed on a gridiron and burned to death.
The Greek word diogmos is used in the Bible and can be translated as “chase, pursuit or persecution.” Valerian had his cohort chase and pursue all Catholic clergy so that he could put them to death for believing in Christ. Our society does something similar, albeit more discreet and less obvious: Western culture chases away truth and morality while it goes in pursuit of a world devoid of God and sin. The Church is hunted down because she is often made to appear as a monster, bigot and intolerant institution that must be made extinct for holding onto traditional values.
When we are chased down, we must follow through. We must become like Lawrence. As he was over the fire, he famously turned towards his executioner with joy and exclaimed: “You can flip me over, I am done on this side.” He knew that in the face of suffering and death, Christ was real and he was with him. St. Lawrence knew that following through until the end and even allowing others to chase him down was how he was made into another Christ. This was how he was becoming even more alive.
So, in the face of the challenges of our times let us joyfully exclaim: “Turn us over.” We are following through on the truth who is a person, Jesus Christ and we will never abandon him. They hated him first. If the world persecutes us, we are in good company.
St. Lawrence, pray for us.
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has a masters degree in theology and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine.
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