Monday of the 19th week in ordinary time year A
Deut. 10:12-22 Mat. 17:22-27
Theme: Listen to the Lord
The church celebrates the memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest and martyr of the church. He is popularly known as the Apostle of Consecration to Mary. He is also the patron saint of drug addicts, prisoners, families, and pro-life movement. He was martyred during the 2nd world war. He was a great devotee to our mother Mary. It is said that at the young age of twelve he had a vision of our mother Mary, and this greatly influenced him. In the vision he had, he was given an option by our mother to choose between a white crown and a red crown. The white means he will live a life of purity and the red means he will die as a martyr, and he told our mother Mary that he was disposed to accept both.
We have a lot to learn from the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe. His love for God and his neighbours is what made him to opt to take the place of a family man in the prison, who was among those to be starved to death. His action in the face of death is the height of selflessness. He was not worried about his safety, but rather was more concerned about the security of others. That is why he used the monastery as a place of shelter to hide the Jews, to treat those who were sick and give accommodation to some others. His care and concern for other people is majorly what led to his arrest and later to his death. His way of life and selflessness is worthy of emulation by all of us who go by the name Christians in our own time. St. Maximilian Kolbe listened to the word of God and allowed it to guide his word and deed, as encouraged by Moses in the 1st reading of today from the Book of Deuteronomy.
In the admonition of Moses in the 1st reading of today, we see a lot of wisdom. This is because the Israelites are gradually getting close to the end of their journey to the promised land. There is need to remind them about the love that God has shown them and their fathers, all they need to do is to put the word of God into practice in their lives and fear the Lord. This will help them to live in peace in the land God has given to them. Every society is guided by a law, we are all encouraged to keep the commandments and statutes of God. This will be a wonderful way to show appreciation to God, for all he has done for us all. We pray that through the intercession of St. Maximilian Kolbe God will grant us the grace to put his word into practice in our daily lives, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.