(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
St Lawrence was a deacon the Church at Rome. He served under Pope Sixtus II and died four days after that Pope. He served as treasurer or business manager of the Church. As such, he had access to the wealth of the Church. This is about all we know for sure.
The emperor Valerian needed money for the upkeep of the imperial palace and the expenses of empire. He tried to get his hands on some of the money the church had, but, according to the legends, Lawrence had spent all the money on the poor and presented the poorest of the city to Valerian as the great wealth of the Church. For this, Valerian put Lawrence to death.
Thin sowing means this reaping. If you plant one seed of corn, do not expect a large harvest. Plant sixteen in four rows of four and you will have much more than sixteen times one. The corn works together when it has a group with which to work.
I thought about buying into the stock market, but I cannot afford even one hundred dollars on it. At that rate, my little amount could earn a thousand dollars, by the time I am a hundred years in my grave. This sowing means thin reaping.
Generously Lawrence gave to the poor, generously Christ filled Lawrence’s empty pockets with God’s glory.
Paul is writing to support a collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem. Lawrence supported the poor church people of Rome. I am not writing in order to take up a collection, but I am putting in a plug for us to live generous lives.
Generous lives does not mean that we give our money away. It means that we give ourselves away, our time, our talent, our ears, our heart, and our money. What another needs for welfare and that we have, we should give generously. What we have and keep, that we lose. What we have and give away, that we keep. God so loved us that God created us, redeemed us and gave us all manner of graces. Since God held nothing back, God loses nothing, but receives all things. This is the mystery of generosity, that what we have we lose, and what we lose we have.