21 July 2021 - Wednesday of the 16th week in Ordinary Time - Lawrence of Brindisi - Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15

      We heard yesterday of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea.  However, in spite of all that God had done for them, the Israelites start complaining.  We know that during their journey in the desert, it seems that they complain about everything.  About the lack of food.  About the lack of water or the water being too bitter.  They remember with nostalgia their life back in Egypt, seemingly remembering all the good things but forgetting the bad.  Our story from Exodus today shown the Israelites that the source of their food in their lives, indeed the source of all that they have, is the God of compassion and love, even in the midst of their constant complaints, in the midst of the help and protection he provided them in the past, even though they fail to remember those things.  Even for us, in our weaknesses, we can easily focus on our sufferings and our grievances, forgetting the blessings we have from God in our lives.  

     Speaking of blessings, the community of saints is truly a blessing in our lives.  And the Doctors of the Church within the community saints represent for us those men and women who have blessed us with teachings and writings that help us on our journey of faith.  Lawrence of Brindisi, who was born in 1559 in Florence, Italy in the midst of the Protestant reformation is the saint of the day.  I love learning about the saints and learning how they followed God’s will for them in their lives.  Lawrence was known for his gift of languages, able to speak and read in his native Italian as well as Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish, and French.  He was ordained a priest in the Franciscan Capuchin order at the age of 23.  With his gift for languages, he studied the Bible in its original texts and languages. At the request of Pope Clement VIII, he preached to the Jews in Italy. His ability to speak Hebrew was so good that many rabbis thought that Lawrence himself was a Jew who had converted to Christianity.  He was a gift diplomat who was dispatched to different foreign diplomatic trips.  In fact, he died on one of those diplomatic trips in Portugal in 1619 on his 60th birthday.  He was also minister general of the Capuchin order, overseeing great growth and expansion of that order.  His sermons and writings on Scripture take up 15 volumes; they are still considered classics today.  He was named a Doctor of the Church in 1959 by Pope John XXIII.  One other interesting fact about him - his remain are found at a Poor Clares’ convent in the village of Villafranca del Bierzo, on the the towns on the Camino pilgrimage trail in Spain.  I am not sure of the circumstances of how his remains came to be there.  Let us unite our prayers with the prayers of St Lawrence Brindisi today.