The psalm we hear today is not from the book of psalms, but words from the prophet Isaiah. Sometimes we do not know what words to say in our prayers. We sometimes have emotions, feelings, and thoughts that are difficult to put into words. Thus, the words we hear from the psalms, the prophets, and the other books of the Bible can help us express our feelings to the Lord. These words can become a prayer for us. In the Gospels, the disciples ask Jesus how to pray. In the words of Isaiah, the prophet expresses the way he places his trust in the Lord, as he says: “I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my savior. With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation.” In the midst of our fears, doubts, frustration, and confusion, we are called to turn to the Lord for strength, consolation, and courage. That is not always an easy thing to do, but the more we do it, the easier it will become.
Maximilian Kolbe is the saint we celebrate today. He has become well-known and more popular in recent years. You can imagine, with as much time I spend out the state prison and the federal prison, with Kolbe being the patron saint of prisoners and those struggling with addictions, he is a saint that resonates very much with me, one of my favorites, which is coming from a priest who really loves the community of saints.
I could hear St Kolbe pray the words of the psalm that I quoted to you. He was born in 1894 in 1894 in Poland. He became a priest in the order of the Conventual Franciscans. In the early 20th century as a newly ordained priest, Kolbe saw indifference as the greatest sin afflicting the people of his day. He founded the Militia of the Immaculata, whose aim was to fight evil with the witness of the good life, prayer, work, and suffering. He founded a Franciscan monastery and publishing house in Poland and a monastery in Japan. In Poland, spoke out against the occupying Nazi forces and helped the Jewish people who were in desperate situations. Kolbe was arrested and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where he would eventually die, having taken the place of a man with a family who was going to be put to death.
Kolbe was canonized a saint in 1982 by Pope John Paul II, who was from his native country of Poland. Kolbe certainly embodies the love of God and the love and compassion of our Catholic faith. He once said: ”Let us remember that love lives through sacrifice and is nourished by giving. Without sacrifice, there is no love."
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