Gospel Thought for Today
14th August Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
Gospel: Matthew 19:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said,
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
“If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Mass intention is for Fr John Martin.
Reflection:
In 1941, a prisoner from Auschwitz concentration camp escaped. To sow fear among prisoners, the German Nazis chose 10 prisoners to die by starvation. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, started to cry thinking of his wife and children. As he wept, another prisoner silently approached the commandant saying “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children” while pointing at Franciszek. That priest was St Maximilian Kolbe whose feast we celebrate today.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus upholds the sanctity of marriage as well as the gift of celibacy. Franciszek and Maximilian had different vocations. Franciszek embraced marriage and, together with his wife, raised a family. Indeed, as the Gospel says, “they are no longer two, but one flesh”. St Maximilian, on the other hand, renounced marriage to “for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven”. In the concentration camp, they suffered humiliation and persecution, but both showed commitment to their calling. Franciszek, when he thought he would soon die, still had in mind his family. He survived the war and was reunited with his wife. He lived for the next 53 years telling the heroic love of St Maximilian Kolbe.
- God is calling you to a vocation – single life, married life, and the religious life or priesthood. Are you listening?
- In your chosen vocation, who do you take as your model and why?
- “Christian perfection consists in the union of our will with the will of God.”, says St Maximilian. How do I protect the holiness of my vocation?
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Through the example and prayers of St Maximilian Kolbe, bless all priests and religious who offer their lives for the sake of Your kingdom. Grant me a heart that is after Your will. Amen.
Fraternally,
Pietro
