Brief Background:

St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941) was a Polish Franciscan priest known for his deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and his use of media to spread the Catholic faith. During World War II, he was imprisoned at Auschwitz. When a fellow prisoner, a husband and father, was chosen to die, Kolbe volunteered to take his place. He died on August 14, 1941, and was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1982 as a “martyr of charity.”

St. Maximilian Kolbe is the patron saint of prisoners, families, journalists and media workers, those struggling with addiction, and the pro-life movement.

REFLECTION:

Last Sunday, I went to visit a good friend of my late aunt. She hasn’t been doing very well healthwise, and I thought I should go and spend some time with her. During our conversation, she shared something that really stayed with me.

She told me that in her prayers she has been asking God, “Why am I suffering so much?” I think that is a very human prayer. When we are hurting, when our bodies are failing us, when life becomes difficult, we naturally ask, “Why, Lord?”

But then she told me that she began thinking about Jesus; about how much Jesus suffered and how He gave Himself for us. And she thought, maybe instead of simply asking God to take her suffering away, she could offer her suffering for someone else.

I said to her, “That is the way that leads us to eternal life: learning to give ourselves for others.”

And I thought about that conversation when I read today’s Gospel.

Jesus speaks about marriage, and then He speaks about those who give up marriage for the sake of the Kingdom. At first, they seem like two very different vocations. But actually, there is something at the heart of both of them: the giving of oneself.

In marriage, a husband says to his wife and a wife says to her husband, “My life is no longer just about me. I give myself to you.” That is why marriage requires sacrifice, forgiveness, patience, and fidelity—not only when things are easy, but especially when things become difficult.

The priesthood is similar. When a priest gives his life to Christ and His Church, he is also saying, “My life is not simply my own anymore.” Sometimes that means celebrating Mass when you're tired, answering the phone when you would rather sleep, being present when someone needs you, or carrying the struggles of people entrusted to your care.

And really, this isn't only about marriage or priesthood. This is the Christian life. Baptism itself calls every one of us to learn how to give ourselves away.

Today we see perhaps one of the most powerful examples of this in Maximilian Kolbe. In Auschwitz, when another prisoner was condemned to death and cried out because he had a wife and children, Father Maximilian stepped forward and offered to take his place.

Think about that. A priest gave his life so that a husband and father could return to his family.

The vocation of priesthood and the vocation of marriage met in that moment through sacrificial love.

St. Maximilian Kolbe famously taught, “Only love creates.” The world tells us to preserve ourselves, protect ourselves, and put ourselves first. Christ teaches us something very different: life becomes fullest when it becomes a gift.

Most of us will never be asked to make the sacrifice St. Maximilian made. But every day we are given smaller opportunities: giving our time, being patient with someone, forgiving, caring for someone who is sick, carrying another person's burden—or even, like my aunt’s friend, offering our own suffering for someone else.

Maybe that is the question we can carry today: Who can I give myself for today? Because whether we are married, single, religious, or ordained, the road ultimately leads in the same direction: toward Jesus Christ, who gave Himself completely for us—and teaches us that the way to eternal life is to learn to do the same.