As I read through today’s Gospel, I thought about how the scribes and Pharisees are always trying to trap Jesus and attack him. The Pharisees relied mostly on their minds and their intellects. They were not willing to open their hearts to all of the teachings and wisdom that Jesus had to offer. Unfortunately, we also can practice our faith in that same spirit. We can try to trick Jesus or accuse him, we can try to follow a rigid form of religion in which our hearts are completely closed to what Jesus is offering to us. Yet, we know that this is not what our faith asks of us.
Lawrence of Brindisi is the saint we celebrate today. Born in Italy in 1559, he entered the Capuchin Franciscan order in Venice at the age of 16, becoming a priest at the age of 23. He had a gift for learning languages, so he was able to study the Bible in its original texts and languages. At the invitation of Pope Clement VIII, he devoted a lot of his ministry to preaching to the Jews in Italy. His knowledge of Hebrew was so extraordinary that many of the Jews thought that Lawrence was Jewish himself. He was elected major superior of the Capuchin Franciscan province of Tuscany at the age of 31 and later became minister general of the entire order. His brilliant mind was tempered by his compassion and mercy. With his gift for languages, he was sent as a peace emissary by the pope to places like Portugal and Naples. He died in 1619 while on a peace making mission to Lisbon, Portugal. He was made a Doctor of the Church in 1959 by Pope John XXIII, who noted Lawrence’s apostolic zeal and teaching of Church doctrine to the faithful. His collected writings span 15 volumes. I look at how Lawrence of Brindisi lived out his faith and the gifts God gave him compared to the scribes and Pharisees - quite a difference. As I look at the vision I want us to follow as a parish priest, of outreach, study, and devotion to the faith, Lawrence of Brindisi is certainly a great example of faith to follow.
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