If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. The people of Israel hardened their hearts and turned their backs on God, even though he had made a pact with God and he made them his people. Rather than singing joyfully to the Lord like the psalmist suggests, the people of Israel complained often and turned to other idols.
St Lawrence was one of seven deacons who served in the Church in ancient Rome in the first half of the third century. After the death of Pope Sixtus II, whom Lawrence served as deacon, Lawrence was ordered by the Roman authorities to hand over the treasures of the Church. He distributed as much of his wealth as he could to the poor, so when the Roman authorities came, he presented them the poor, the blind, the suffering, and the lame, whom he named as the true treasures of the Church. As a result, Lawrence was imprisoned and was burned to death by the Roman authorities. Lawrence became a well-recognized martyr in the early Church, having been killed in these Valerian persecutions in the year 258 AD. St Lawrence is honored in our Church’s liturgical calendar today. Just yesterday, we commemorated Carmelite nun St Edith Stein, while Monday we commemorate Franciscan priest St Maximillian Kolbe, two Catholic martyrs who died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in WWII.
If we are to open our hearts to God rather than harden them, we must have authentic conversion and renewal in our lives, we must place our trust in God and allow God’s graces to work in our lives. God’s word must live in our hearts, but most importantly, he must live in our own words and in our actions. God lived in the hearts of St Lawrence and the other martyrs of the faith, giving them the courage and strength to give up their lives for their loyalty to the faith. May we ask God for that same courage and faith.
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