The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul
Saturday, Feast of St. Lawrence Deacon and Martyr, 10 August 2019
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< John 12:24-26
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father for the gift of humor.
Yes, Lord, thank you in giving us funny bones, for enabling us to laugh – and be holy!
Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Keep us cheerful always, Lord, like St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, patron saint of chefs and comedians.
It was pure grace of love for Jesus Christ and his Church that St. Lawrence suffered so much with a lot of sense of humor and joy.
When Emperor Valerian asked your deacon St. Lawrence to bring him all the treasures of the Church of Rome he was tasked to safeguard, he asked permission to leave jail to gather them.
And he was so witty and courageous that when he returned, he came with the poor as “treasures of the Church” that made the emperor so furious and ordered St. Lawrence be roasted to death on a giant gridiron.
Again, in the midst of intense pain while being roasted alive, St. Lawrence never lost that spark of wit and humor when he told his tormentors to “turn me over, I am done on this side…have a bite.”
As a deacon, teach us, O Lord, to serve like St. Lawrence with a deep sense of dedication and passion plus a lot of smiles and joy!
Everybody is so stressed out these days, Lord, for so many reasons like traffic and lousy services everywhere, including in our parishes.
Thanks be to you, O God, we do not have to suffer so much like St. Lawrence.
Give us the grace of wearing always a warm smile and cheerful face to serve those in pain and suffering.
Let us laugh a lot, Lord, to share with others the real fruits of our work in you. Amen.
