Who is the greatest? Who is the best? Who is the richest? Who is the fastest? We seem obsessed with those things in the modern world. Although, I must say, as a diehard Chicago Cubs fan, I grew up knowing that winning isn’t everything – hahaha. (Having been a Cubs fan all my life, and having seen the Cubs with a losing season again and again, it was quite a wonderful surprise when I saw the Cubs win the World Season several years ago.) Yet, taking pride in being the best and being the greatest is not anything new, as evidenced by the disciples asking Jesus in today’s Gospel as to who will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. His answer – we need to humble ourselves in order to be the greatest. We need to approach God with the heart of a child.
Tomorrow evening, we will be celebrating the vigil mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But tomorrow is also the feast day of a saint who speaks to us today in light of the Gospel message we just heard. Maximilian Kolbe, was a Franciscan priest who was also a renowned scholar and theologian, the publisher of a popular Catholic magazine that had more than one million subscribers. He is remembered for is the way he lived our the values of the Gospel in his life each day. Saint Kolbe believed that indifference was the deadliest poison we have in society, which he witnessed as Fascism spread throughout Europe. Kolbe died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during the Second World War, having been arrested for the way his monastery helped out and sheltered the refugees who were being persecuted by the Nazis. St Kolbe died when he voluntarily took the place of a married man with many children who was going to be put to death.
I found this prayer asking for the intercessions of Saint Maximilian Kolbe in A Book on the Saints by Anne Gordon. I think it really captures the essence of this remarkable saint: “Through your life and work you proved that nothing is more precious than our essential humanity. I pray that you will stand by me and give me the courage to act everyday with the sense of fairness, compassion and respect for all living things that your exemplified. You have shown that great faith may call for noble and heroic action. If I am to be true to myself, Saint Kolbe, I pray that you will stand with me also in my most difficult hours. Be a reminder to me that I must have the courage of my convictions. Help me to imbue my every action with meaning and to have the courage to find the greater meaning and purpose to which I seek to dedicate my life.”
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