Jesus often makes the distinction between God's values and worldly values. We see Him doing that today (Jn 12: 24-36) when He says that those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their lives in this world will preserve their lives for eternal life. Following Jesus means serving as He did, giving up one's life for others. It is worth noting that Jesus gives these comments as He is about to begin His passion and death. It is also worth noting that the Church selects this Gospel reading on the feast of St. Lawrence, the arch-deacon who became a martyr in Rome in 258. Lawrence was a remarkable character. He was given the material wealth of the Church for safekeeping by the Pope, Sixtus II, who was killed by the emperor. Lawrence was scheduled to be executed 4 days later, and was ordered to show up for his execution with the Church's treasure. On the appointed day, Lawrence shows up before the emperor with the sick, blind, crippled and poor. When the emperor demands to know what that's all about, Lawrence proclaims that he was ordered to bring the treasures of the Church, and these are the treasures. No big surprise that the emperor orders that the execution of Lawrence should take place right away. Lawrence is roasted to death over a fire. But what if Lawrence is right? What if we truly believed that the poor, the sick, the desperate, the homeless, the needy are truly treasures, blessings beyond belief? What if when someone ended up with the responsibility of caring for a sick friend or relative, we thought that was like winning the lottery? What if, when that happened, friends would call up and say: "Wow, I'm so jealous. I wish that would happen to me"? What if we would follow the story of parents caring for a disabled child with the same enthusiasm, and jealousy, as we follow the Kardashians? What if we valued serving a meal to a homeless person more than meeting the President, or the Pope? What if we measured the success of a congregation by the percentage of the folks at Mass who were disabled, or migrants, or destitute? What if, as a country, we thought the opportunity to welcome migrants was a great blessing, and not a curse? OK, OK-- I know I'm not taling about how the world really operates. I get that. But Jesus doesn't want us to operate how the world operates-- that's the whole point of His statement about losing our lives if we love them in the worldly sense. It is Jesus' intention to challenge us, to change us, to cause us to seek to be like Him, to have us want to serve Him. When we do that, we think like Lawrence did. We understand that the poor, disabled, sick and needy are truly treasures because they present us with an opportunity to be the people Jesus calls us to be. Tough sell, I know. But it is what Jesus is selling.