Gratitude Leads to Generosity R E V. M R . E DWA R D G O D E F R O I D ’ 2 1 , A R C H D I O C E S E O F ST. LO U I S
Fourth year deacons, who serve on the leadership team of St. Lawrence Outreach, pause for a photo after their monthly meeting.
T
he Roman Church found itself under great persecution in the third century under Emperor Valerian. Pope Sixtus II, knowing his impending martyrdom, decided to ordain and appoint his trusted friend Lawrence as archdeacon, an appointment that gave Lawrence charge of both the Church’s wealth and its outreach to the poor. Soon, Lawrence, too, was captured and commanded to hand over all the Church’s riches. After he spending the next few days gathering all the poor, afflicted, and suffering people of the city, he returned to the Emperor’s palace claiming, “Here is the true treasure of the Church.” This act sent Emperor Valerian into a rage and led to Lawrence’s martyrdom, in which he was set ablaze on a grill. St. Lawrence’s story lives on through the Church’s countless ministries, religious orders, and charities that care
for the poor around the world. Here at The Pontifical North American College, St. Lawrence’s story lives on in a special way through the St. Lawrence Outreach program, which helps seminarians minister to the poor of Rome. Our goal in facilitating this encounter is to continue the ministry of the great archdeacon of Rome. We carry out this ministry by keeping a well-stocked food pantry, providing pamphlets with resources for the poor, and initiating projects at Christmas and Lent. Our Christmas project, which begins in late November, is a student-led campaign that provides toiletry kits and sleeping bags that will be distributed to the city’s poor. While this can seem little in the grand scheme of poverty, a sleeping bag on a cold winter night can be the difference between life and death.
We at the College are thankful for many gifts we have been afforded, and one way we show our gratitude is to be generous ourselves, giving from our hearts; this effort to care for the poor at Christmas is part of that, and it is always edifying. The St. Lawerence Outreach is just one way the College reaches out to those in need. We also have a partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in which men donate money for items CRS distributes throughout the world to those most in need. Gratitude for the things that have been bestowed on us serves as a reminder of our need to be generous, especially toward the poorest of the poor, for they are the true treasures of the Church. n
ROMAN ECHOES 2021 • VOLUME 25: ISSUE 2
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