Grain of Wheat

August 10

ST. LAWRENCE, Deacon and Martyr

2Cor.6:9-10/Ps.111:1-2.5-9/Jn.12:24-26

Grain of Wheat

I am husk. Christ, my kernel is.

I am without; He is within.

A creation, the produce of his vine.

A seed am I; clothed in humility, and equanimity,

submissive and altruistic to his demands.

My husk shall roast on a gridiron

My core, my soul,

My wisdom, my knowledge,

My understanding, my creative energy

No fire can ever consume.

Die, I must, to rise from the ashes.

Life to bring life, and life to give

Cycles of timeless rebirths –

Expressions of divine gallantry and love.

I am the genesis of an eternity

When in fire or in rich soil:

I fall; I die. I rise! I conceive!

I birth unadulterated species in multitudes.

Sow me thin my yield shall reflect your miserliness.

Sow me rich my copious yield shall be your legacy.

Your altruism, your love, your being

Shall be my creator’s paradise, His bliss!

\

Lawrence, indestructible kernel –

You lived to die that you might live eternally.

May your core sprout and grow into a timeless vine,

Untouchable now, by the pruners’ shears

And far from the gridiron of hate and hell.

Fr. J. Lambert St. Rose