The Lord has called us to “a new way of loving.” Especially in our own day, we see how many are presently suffering from loneliness, abandonment, pressures which come from poor health and lack of work, everything related to the worldwide pandemic, and the stress of raising a family amidst all of this. Nonetheless, we are called to be open to other people’s needs and walk each day as faithful pilgrims on the journey. The “great cloud of witnesses,” the saints, encourage us along the way.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish Franciscan priest, missionary and martyr, is celebrated throughout the Church today, August 14. He died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz, during World War II, and is remembered as a “martyr of charity” for dying in place of another prisoner who had a wife and children. He truly does encourage us by his own willing self-sacrifice. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982.
St. Maximilian is also celebrated for his missionary work, his creative use of modern means of communication, and for his lifelong devotion to the Virgin Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. St. Maximilian, according to several biographies, was personally called by the Virgin Mary, both to his holy life and to his eventual martyrdom.
Let us pray. “Grant, O Lord Jesus, that we too may give ourselves entirely, without reserve, to the love and service of your Gospel. Help us to do so in order to better love and serve others, in imitation of your humble servant, St. Maximilian Kolbe. Help us to learn by his example and grow in holiness, knowing you call us all to a new way of loving. Above all, help us to perfectly conform our wills to your Father’s will in all situations. In your holy Name. Amen.”
