Homily – July 21, 2009 – St. Lawrence of Brindisi

+ St. Lawrence of Brindisi, priest and Doctor of the Church was born in 1559 in Italy. He entered the Capuchin (Franciscan) Friars and became an excellent student and soon taught theology to his fellow religious and was often chosen to fill positions of leadership in his order. He became famous throughout Europe as an effective and forceful preacher. He wrote many works explaining the faith and died at Lisbon in 1619 – he was canonized in 1881 and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII in 1959. Today, July 21, is his feast day.

There is need in every age for strong and forceful preaching of the Gospel of Jesus. The secular times call for it, the spiritual climate demands it, and the eternal salvation of souls requires it!

Men are called to be such preachers – instruments in the hands of the Holy Spirit – who "remind us of all that Jesus said and did, and teaches us even newer things, with a greater depth of understanding!" Our first reading today spells out the role of the preacher: he is not one who preaches himself (his own thoughts, opinions, perspectives) but rather one who preaches Christ-still-preaching-and-teaching! The Word of God is alive and active and meant to pierce to the heart of the listener! A true human preacher is an empty earthen vessel for the Holy Spirit to fill and use as he will – providing words that need to be heard for each gathering of the faithful in each and every circumstance and location!

The gospel passage today talks of the word of God as seed – seed that can be received in many different ways (from less than enthusiastic producing minimal results to very enthusiastically and willingly producing abundant flowering of the fruit of the seed). It is up to the preacher to plant the seed on behalf of God; it is up to the soul hearing the gospel and its message in the homily to be the more or less receptive soil for the growth of the seed!

May we all be good, fertile and eagerly receptive soil to receive the richness of God's Holy Word today, so that we will be able to produce the fruit of good works, kind words, and merciful acts to all those who will cross our path today!

I should like to close my homily now with a short paragraph that St. Lawrence of Brindisi himself wrote in one of his sermons:

Preaching, therefore, is a duty that is apostolic, angelic, Christian, divine. The word of God is replete with manifold blessings, since it is, so to speak, a treasure of all goods. It is the source of faith, hope, charity, all virtues, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the beatitudes of the Gospel, all good works, all the rewards of life, all the glory of paradise: Welcome the word that has taken root in you, with its power to save you!

The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live forever.