The Emptiness of the World's Promises
A Short Reflection on the Feast Day of Saint Lawrence
Let us pray for our Deacon friends today.
Today is the feast day of St. Lawrence, a deacon. He was one of seven deacons of Rome under Pope Sixtus II. Deacons in the early Church were charged with caring for the Church’s goods and for the poor. Lawrence was roasted alive on a gridiron. The infamous line of St. Lawrence is that, while he was being burned, he told the executioners to turn him over because one side was done.
St. Lawrence’s martyrdom reminds us that the world despises those who live out the call of the Gospel through total self-giving, especially for the poor and less fortunate.
As we seek to detach from the world’s empty promises, we should work out our own salvation “with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). This is why a blunt tombstone epitaph can sound like wisdom: “He didn’t like it here anyway.” Not because life is worthless, but because it’s too small to be ultimate. It’s the wisdom of Solomon, who understood “vanity of vanities.” The world and its emptiness offer nothing compared to union and friendship with Christ.
On Lawrence’s feast, we pray for that same freedom. We pray that we can hold the world lightly and be more generous with our neighbors and family. Perhaps we can come to a deeper understanding of just how much we need Christ. Everything else passes away.
St. Lawrence, pray for us.
© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.