In the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation in 2013, Italian philospher, Giorgio Agamben, whose work very much informs my political perspective, wrote what basically amounts to a pamphlet: The Mystery of Evil: Benedict XVI and the End of Days. In this short treatise, Agamben notes something that Heidegger noted early on in his own philosophical career that resulted from his deep dive into Saint Paul's first letter to the Christians in ancient Thessaloniki, namely that over the course of two millenia, Christians have lost our sense of eschatological urgency.
Yet, each Sunday we profess in the Creed, be it the Nicene or Apostles Creed, that Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. Rooted as it is in divine revelation, this is a dogma of Christian faith. As a result, as Jesus teaches into today's Gospel, how we live in the meantime matters. "Christ has died. Christ is Risen. Christ will come again." We are not meant to just mark time.
It is easy to fall into a worldly perspective and live for this life only. Inevitably and without exception, this life ends, which is what makes living exclusively for time and disregrading eternity so dangerous.
Money, possessions, power, and status aren't the measure of a person. You really can't take it with you, as Jesus' parable from last Sunday powerfully and simply demonstrated. Status and power matter, at least how one who has them wields them does. It can mean the difference between being rewarded for using them prudently and wisely, that is, charitably and only being beaten lightly or being beaten severely.
It is not God's desire to punishment anyone. Rather, as Jesus intimates in our Gospel, it is the Father's pleasure "to give you the kingdom." But, at the end of the day, your heart is where your treasure is. It isn't so much that God denies you the kingdom as you saying to God, "No thanks." As C.S. Lewis wrote:
There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done” (C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (1946; rprt. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001), 75)
The Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside-the-Walls (i.e., San Lorenzo fuori le mura), 18th century engraving by Giuseppe Vasi
As a deacon, I can't help but mention that in years when 10 August does not fall on a Sunday (i.e., most every year), the Feast of Saint Lawrence is observed universally. Along with Saint Stephen and Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Lawrence is one of the Church's greatest deacons. Lawrence lived his entire life in the third century (AD 225-258).
Saint Lawrence gives us a lively example of what the Lord teaches in today's Gospel. Ordained a deacon at 32 by Pope Sixtus II, Lawrence was quickly named Archdeacon of Rome. The archdeacon was first among the seven deacons who served in the cathedral church. Archdeacon was a position of that came with status, power, and control of the Church's treasury. As such, Lawrence was charged with distributing alms to the poor. By all accounts he was honest, diligent, and caring in the exercise of his office.
In August 258, the Roman emperor Valerian issued and edict that all bishops, priests, and deacons should be put to death. on 6 August, Pope Sixtus II was arrested while celebrating the liturgy and executed. After the execution of Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over all the Church's wealth to the emperor. Lawrence asked the perfect for three days to gather up the riches to be handed over.
On the third day, Lawrence led a delegation and presented himself to the Roman prefect. Immediately, the prefect demanded that Lawerence hand over the Church's treasure. Lawerence then proceeded to 'hand over" the Church's treasures: the city's indigent, crippled, blind, and suffering. He did so with these words: "Here are the treasures of the church. You see, the church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor!"
This brazen act led to Lawrence's arrest and execution. While it almost certain that in accordance with Valerian's order, Lawrence, along with Sixtus and all other members of the Roman clergy who arrested and executed, was decapitated, the legend of him being roasted on a gridiron persists. Part of this legend is Lawrence taunting his Roman executioners by telling them they could turn him over because he was done on one side.
The Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls is one of five papal basilicas in Rome. The basilica stands on the site of Saint Lawrence's grave, where the Emperor Constantine built a small oratory early in the fourth century. Later, during that same century, Pope Damasus I, who had served as a deacon at the original oratory, restored and/or rebuilt this edifice. Pope Pelagius II built a church on the site in the 580s.
Most recently, the basilica was bombed in 1943 during World War II and rebuilt by 1948. Five popes are buried in San Lorenzo fuori le mura, the most of recent of whom is Pope Pius IX (a.k.a., Pio Nono), who called and presided over the First Vatican Ecumenical Council in 1870. He died in 1878.
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