Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mt 16:24-25)

The cost of discipleship . . . sometimes we wonder if it’s worth it. And of course, the answer comes . . . where else would we want to be but with Him? Today is the feast of Pope Saint Sixtus and his companions. What is so special about Saint Sixtus? Well, in three days we will celebrate the feast of Saint Lawrence . . . which is the rest of the story. The Church of Rome traditionally had seven deacons. The deacons held very important positions in the church . . . Saint Lawrence was the arch-deacon. There was a persecution of the church at that time and gatherings of Christians were prohibited. Pope Sixtus said he wanted to celebrate the Eucharist with the community at one of the cemeteries. Cemeteries were outside the city walls and away from the police. So the pope along with the seven deacons gathered with the community. But the police arrived and grabbed the pope and five of the deacons. Pope Sixtus and four deacons were beheaded on the spot: Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus and Stephanus. Two of the deacons managed to escape to the cemetery across the street . . . where they were captured and beheaded: Felicissimus and Agapitus. The arch-deacon Lawrence was arrested and his story follows on August 10th.