The Entrance Antiphon for our Eucharist on this Feast of St Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, affirms that this young man "spent himself for the poor of the Church". He faced his executioners with great courage and even faced death with humour. These facts about Lawrence are remembered each time we celebrate his feast. Perhaps it will be of benefit to us to see how these different characteristics of Lawrence are interrelated. A sincere and active love for the poor will always be a great liberating experience: serving those who have nothing helps one to become detached from what one has. This is verified in the story of many of those who have served the poor, for many of them served to the point of death and even martyrdom. Once one has given everything to the service of Jesus in the poor and in the Church, death cannot mean the loss of anything for one has nothing to lose. Death as St Paul says in one of his letters, can only be a gain. Facing such a great gain, it is inevitable that one with Lawrence's faith would face death with great equanimity and peace.