August 10, St. Lawrence

Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.--Psalm 112:5

Mass readings: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 / John 12:24-26

All That We Can Be

The paradox Jesus speaks in today's Gospel -- that life comes from death -- is one that writers and philosophers, who lived long before Christ and ever since, have, well, beaten to death; you can hardly blame them. It's all around us: Winter gives way to spring, flowers bloom in graveyards, dead plants become life-giving garden compost.

Jesus' example of the grain of wheat dying to bear fruit is interesting, though, because the thing that dies doesn't become something else. It remains what it is -- wheat -- but in abundance. You've heard that Army recruiting slogan, ''Be all that you can be''? The grain of wheat, when it's sown, becomes all it can be. Jesus' words today remind me that if I follow Him I will not lose my life, but live more abundantly than I can imagine.

Prayer: Loving God, You made me. Today, make me all I can be.