“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.” // Matthew 18:15
A priest offers his life in place of a father of a family in a concentration camp run by the Nazis. Both are unjustly imprisoned, but only one survives to tell the story.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us how to deal with speaking the truth to those we are in conflict with or who have injured us. We are supposed to speak the truth first to the individual, then if need be, have witnesses to help us speak, then to have the truth known to the whole of our community and for the community to act together towards justice (see Matthew 18:15-20).
But what happens when our societies reject justice and truth and persecute people to the point of horrific genocide? How can we be a voice in the darkness when the time for words and civil discourse have been completely abandoned?
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast is today, provides an example for us. Saint Maximilian gave his own life to save the life of a Polish soldier from the starvation chambers in Auschwitz during the Second World War. In what must have felt like hell on earth, only the example of sacrificial love could rise above the evil that was taking place. It may have appeared as if Saint Maximilian only helped save the life of one man, but his example of holiness has reverberated through time and to a world broken by unfathomable evil.
If Saint Maximilian can offer his life for another in the face of evil with a courageous spirit, we too can speak words of truth with courage. We all have situations in our lives that need to have the truth spoken in love. It may even be within ourselves, to have the courage to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit prompting our conscience to confess our sin. It may be approaching a sensitive issue with others in our lives with understanding and wisdom, but at the same time an unwavering commitment to the truth and charity.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, intercede for us today; help us grow in love for Christ and His Church, and serve Him boldly in truth.
Christy Isinger is a wife and mom to five lovely, loud children and lives in northern Canada. When not homeschooling, she is a devoted reader of English literature from Jane Austen to Agatha Christie and blogs about beauty and life. She is the co-host of the Fountains of Carrots Podcast. She is the author of Blessed Conversations: The Ten Commandments. Find out more about her here.
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