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Tag Archives: Auschwitz

A Modern Martyr

14 Wednesday Aug 2019

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addiction, Auschwitz, martyr, St. Maximilian Kolbe, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

I had just started teaching in high school when Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest from Poland was beatified in 1971 and I remember the pride and joy of the Polish people when he was declared a saint eleven years later in 1982, just 41 years after his death. Modern saints were still few and far between and modern martyrs, even more rare in the Church. Father Kolbe swiftly became known the world over for his courage and generosity in taking the place of a young married man with children in a starvation group at Auschwitz. That man, Sargeant Francis Gajowniczek, lived to tell the story as a witness to the selflessness of Fr. Kolbe.

One thing I did not know about St. Maximilian was that by August 14, 1941 four of the ten men in the group were still alive. To “finish them off,” they were injected with carbolic acid, causing their death. Because of this, I presume, Fr. Kolbe has been named as the patron of drug addicts. How fitting that this title should be given to one who was so brave, since courage is the quality so necessary to those afflicted with drug addiction.

Let us be grateful for St. Maximilian Kolbe and all those who suffered like him, and let us pray for the end of the epidemic of drug addiction in our country and the world, especially in families that we know as victims of this terrible affliction.

Where Is the Love?

14 Tuesday Aug 2018

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antidote, Auschwitz, distress, inhumanity, loss, love, martyr, St. Maximilian Kolbe, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

astkolbeIt seems as if we, like Noah, will soon have to begin building an ark to survive the rain that seems destined to go on forever taking lives, swallowing up cars and filling homes with muddy destruction. Would that we could gather it up and send it West to smother some of the wildfires that are devastating so many homes and lives on the other side of our country. Such environmental distress and human loss is difficult to take in as pictures on the news bring it all to the fore each evening.

Add to that the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, whom we remember today as holy man and martyr, one who gave his life at Auschwitz in place of a man who had a wife and children. Kolbe died as a 47-year-old Franciscan priest who had chosen to be a martyr. You can read his story at www.franciscanmedia.org. 

We are not separate, it seems, from the groaning of nature and the inhumanity born of hatred in individuals and nations. War, whether worldwide or contained in one country – or in our hearts – continues to overshadow our days. The only antidote is love. Offered with generosity to each person we pass on the street, those we embrace as friend and those we thank God for every day as essential to our lives, leaving no one out of our circle of care, love will ultimately save us. This, I believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Be A Saint

14 Monday Aug 2017

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Auschwitz, Blessed Mother, devotion, franciscan, greed, hatred, heroism, mystics, Peace, saint, selfishness, St. Maximilian Kolbe, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

akolbeOften when speaking of a very good person, someone will say, “S/he’s a saint!” but when we’re talking about saints in a specific way, we generally look to people who lived in the early days of Christianity or the Middle Ages. Almost everyone knows about St. Francis of Assisi, St. Benedict and (finally!) St. Mary Magdalene, as well as mystics Sts. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Lately, we Catholics in the United States have been gratified with the canonization (official recognition) of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint, and Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint. Now there are also “regular people” who have lived a good and holy life who are coming to the notice of people in high places or those whose diligence pleads their case successfully with the Vatican to have them recognized in this special way. One such heroic holy person is Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan friar who volunteered to take the place of a Jewish man in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. A prisoner had escaped and, in retribution, the commandant announced that ten men would die. Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek was married with a family and lived to tell the tale of the holy man who took his place in the group of ten executed on this day in 1941. Fr. Kolbe was canonized in 1982.

Although this heroism was extreme, it was not uncharacteristic behavior for Maximilian Kolbe. His entire life was dedicated to God, most significantly in devotion to the Blessed Mother, Mary. Reading his biography – even the snapshot found on the website http://www.franciscanmedia.org – is inspiring. Most of us will not be called to the kind of heroism that Fr. Kolbe exercised, but we can all aspire to the holiness born of love, willingness and generosity that characterized his life. And in this moment in our complex and dangerous world, we can use those motivations to mitigate the hatred, greed and selfishness that causes the negative energies to rise.

May peace reign in our hearts today and lead to peace in our world.

 

 

 

 

 

In the Cloud

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

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a cloud of witnesses, access lives of holy people, Auschwitz, Catholic Worker, Dalai Lama, Dorothy Day, Hebrews, Jesus, Maximilian Kolbe, Pope John Paul II, Rev. Michael Himes, saint, Sermon on the Mount, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Paul, the cloud, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

cloudofsaintsThese days when we speak of “the cloud” many of us are aware that the reference is not to the weather. The latest technological “storage facility” is still a mystery to many but for others it is a great revelation and advance.

In today’s first reading (HEB 12:1-4) Paul urges: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us …He is speaking, of course of what the Church calls “the communion of saints.” Once I heard Rev. Michael Himes, theology professor at that time at Boston College, use that reference as one of the best reasons for the continuance of the Catholic/Christian Church (and I would expand the notion to include other faith traditions for it seems appropriate in the broader sense as well). What he was implying was our freedom and ability to access the lives of these “holy people of God” across the centuries for examples of faith, perseverance, service and love. We may, in an imaginal way (which is not to say imaginary but rather with our deeper intuition), “have conversation with” those who lived in the first century – dropping in on the listeners to the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps, or sitting with the apostles gathered on the beach for breakfast with Jesus after the Resurrection. We can follow St. Francis of Assisi as he did his best to “rebuild the Church” in the 1200’s or accompany Catherine of Siena as she courageously led the Pope back to Rome from Avignon in 1377. In our own time we might ask Dorothy Day about her fervent service to the poor at the Catholic Worker. “How did you do it?” we might ask, “giving everything …open to everyone?” Or maybe it’s Maximilian Kolbe who gave his life in exchange for a family man at Auschwitz and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1982 who puts a modern face on the willingness of Jesus for us.

This year as we celebrate the 100th birthday of Thomas Merton, I see in my mind pictures of him sitting in conversation with the Dalai Lama and know that deep sharing can bring the understanding of which Paul speaks today. We often hear folks say, “S/he was a saint,” when speaking of those newly departed from the earth. Why not look around – even as we look up or look in – to find conversation partners in that great cloud or still here in our midst.

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