Do not get with the times
Today is the Feast of St Maximilian Kolbe whose life will to known to many readers. In brief, the Franciscan Priest, who had a ministry in Catholic communications, imprisoned in Auschwitz took the place of a family man condemned to death by starvation. Maximilian lived for three weeks leading the other condemned men in prayer until, as the last survivor, he was executed. The spared man lived to be 93 and dedicated his life to retelling the story of his deliverance.
Max K would be an embarrassment in the 21st Century.
In an age of identity politics, where one seeks to associate with fashionable cultures, ethnicities, or groups, he refused the advantage of being part German in Nazi-controlled Poland.
In age of fake news, he was a broadcaster of truth.
In an age of blameshifting where politicians and bureaucrats seek to deny and avoid the consequences of their choices and actions, Max K took upon himself a tortuous death intended for another.
In an age of cynicism and unbelief, he trusted in God and dedicated himself to serving Him and others.
From the heart of the 20th Century Holocaust when all the proud boasts of secularism were revealed for what they are, Max K still speaks to us:
No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?
Max’s executioner probably died in a basement in the fall of Berlin, living long enough to see all that he strived for destroyed; St Maximilian Kolbe lives on, communicating the glory of God even better now than when he was on Earth.
You did not choose me. No I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and bear fruit that will last. – John 15:16
St Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.