One of the themes in Jesus’ teaching is a caution for us to be careful not to allow ourselves to be seduced by the things of this world – things that in the end will amount to nothing. Instead, Jesus asks us to focus our lives on furthering God’s kingdom here on earth through love, compassion, selflessness, sacrifice, and holy living.
Today we celebrate the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Auschwitz death camp. Kolbe willingly gave up his life to spare another out of love and compassion. We may never be asked to make such an extreme sacrifice, but in some ways we are being asked every day to give up our lives, to deny ourselves for Christ. God asks us to temper our pride and ambition, to put our spiritual needs before our material needs, to put others before ourselves, to live simple lives with God at the forefront, to – as Jesus says – make the things of God our treasure (Luke 12:32-48).
And we know that this is a constant struggle. But we know we are not in it alone – we know that God is at our side helping us live the life he asks of us. And it is also good that we have the Saints of our church – Saints such as Maximilian Kolbe – as role models. When you look at the lives of these holy people it seems that the constant – the thread that runs through all – is their faith. As Saint Paul tells us (Hebrews 11:1-19) faith is God’s gift to us that strengthens and sustains us, that gives us comfort and assurance in God’s love and good intentions for us. Through faith we have confidence in God’s will for us, the power to live the life that God asks of us, and the ability to place our lives in his hands. Jesus once said that with an ounce of faith we could move mountains. Just think about Maximilian Kolbe – his faith allowed him to shelter Jewish refugees from the Nazi’s – an act that led to his arrest. His faith allowed him to celebrate mass each day from his prison cell even as he was dying of starvation. His faith allowed him to willingly die in place of a stranger. His faith allowed him to give up his life to God.
When I consider the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe I wonder – maybe our most important prayer is to ask God to increase our faith. Maybe all else follows from that.