August 10, 2026 // Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10

Reflect on the Word //

This past year, I have learned a lot about giving directly from the eagerly raised hands of elementary school children. There is something pure about their willingness to serve, as if it is a coat of honor that God Himself helps them shrug on at the start of every school day. As a student teacher, I would receive drawings everyday, each scrawled with kind words, and when I dropped a box of pencils or a pile of papers, students from the back of the classroom would scurry forward to help tidy up. When I looked up to say thank you, I always knew I would find them already back at their desks, eyes squinted on their paper, pencil in hand, and a faint smile tugging at their lips.

In today’s First Reading, Paul states that “God loves a cheerful giver,” and that “in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8). We often think we need more in order to give more, but this is far from the truth.

The Lord gives to us in abundance, as sure as the dew on the grass each morning. The world teaches us to focus on our lack instead of our abundance, but as long as we cling to our checkbooks and claim we are short on time, we will hesitate to step into the life that God has blessed and ordained for us—one of service to others.

Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (whose feast we celebrate today) believed this so much so that when asked to present the wealth of the Church to the pagan prefect of Rome, he presented the poor and sick, claiming, “These are the treasures of the Church” (Saint Ambrose, On the Duties of the Clergy, XXVIII.140).

Next time we find ourselves holding on to that skirt we never wear, hesitating to give to our church’s third capital campaign, or claiming we do not have time to drive that friend to the airport, let us refocus on what truly matters: blessing others.

Relate to the Lord // Take some time to reflect on the Lord’s abundant generosity to you today. Make a list and thank Him!