The Courageous Way of FAITH!

Fr Kolbe and others who lived and served out of the Franciscan Abbey, protested the Nazi regime and their persecution of Jews.  They hid many Jews in their Abbey and were arrested at different times. Fr Kolbe refused to sign a paper that would give him freedom due to his German ancestry because he would not support the German authorities. He continued to speak out and write against the Nazi regime.

Fr Kolbe and other priests were arrested and sent to prison, then finally transferred to Auschwitz. There he ministered to people in their deep pain and suffering. He was beaten and lashed by authorities who didn’t like his work. He generously shared himself and what he had with others. Father Kolbe was a light in the darkness of a very dark and brutal place!

One day a prisoner from their block escaped. The men from their block missed their evening meal and were made to stand in the sun all the next day. The only respite was when they received their meagre soup ration for lunch. Some fainted in the heat and were left where they landed. No-one was allowed to move off their mark. In the evening, when the escaped prisoner was still not found, the deputy Commander of the Camp ordered that 10 men would be placed in a bunker cell and starve to death as a warning to everyone else. If anyone else escaped it would be 20 men next time. The Deputy Commander and his guards separated the ranks of men and then wandered along the rows, recording numbers off the backs of men. They drew this selection process out in an excruciating manner. As the men were named, one fell to the ground and cried out in despair: ‘My wife! My children!’ Fr Kolbe immediately walked forward through the ranks of men. All the guards raised their rifles, and the dogs were ready to be released if this man created any unrest. Most actually expected Fr Kolbe to be gunned down well before he got close to the Deputy Commander but was able to move within a respectful distance. He fearlessly addressed the Deputy Commander asking that he be allowed to swap with the man.  He said: ‘Can I take this man’s place.  He has a family, and I don’t.’ Again, the expectation of everyone was that the Deputy Commander would simply add Fr Kolbe to the men sentenced to die, making 11. The Deputy Commander appeared unsettled and uncertain by the fearlessness of Fr Kolbe and ultimately granted his request. Fr Kolbe replaced Franciszek Gajowniczek, and they were taken into the bunker and deprived of food and water. According to an eyewitness, who was an assistant janitor at that time, in his prison cell Kolbe led the prisoners in prayer. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. Men in other cells of this rotten, stinking hellhole, cried out in terror and were also comforted and consoled by Fr Kolbe. They could hear his prayers and hymn singing from their cells. It was said that the men became so engrossed in the prayers of Fr Kolbe, there were times when the guards who came to check on them had to yell out to break their attention. Fr Kolbe brought profound hope and comfort into this darkest of places. He saw the hope of God’s grace that would hold them and keep them. He provided the certain assuredness that they were loved in God and there was hope in this grace.

After they had been starved and deprived of water for two weeks, only Fr Kolbe and three others remained alive. The guards wanted the cell emptied, so decided to administer a lethal injection to the remaining men. It was reported that when the guards came with the injection, Fr Kolbe calmly lifted his left arm and allowed them to inject him.  He died calmly and with deep peace and love. This is the way of Faith!

Few people reach the deep state of inner peace and calm of Fr Kolbe, able to give so freely and generously of himself. Many seek it and some glimpse it and moments of deep experience of this transcendent peace, love and hope. Perhaps that was why Fr Kolbe was made a saint – to shine light on human life and help us to see another way in the world. At a time when discussion and questions around what it means to be religious, have faith, be spiritual, are more prominent, the experience of people like Fr Kolbe are enlightening!

In one of our readings this week (Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16) we read about faith – the trust in things we can’t see or define or control, things of God. Stories of people such as Abraham and Sarah invite us to ponder what it means to trust our lives into something (someone?) without knowing what the outcome will be. They experienced this sense of ‘call’ to let go of the security, comfort and familiarity of their lives, to pack up their lives and travel to a place that will be revealed. They don’t know where, why, what… They simply trust in this one who calls. In letting go of the control they think they have over the life they believe they have and are in control of, they discover a new freedom and journey into the unknown. All along the way, the Presence and sustaining Love of God are with them. They make all manner of mistakes and take charge more than once. Things fall apart and then new faith and trust leads them back to the path of life and freedom.

In Luke’s story (Luke 12:32-40), Jesus invites us to not be afraid but receive the freedom and life of God’s Reign, a gift given in joy and love. He urges that we don’t store up treasure that will rot, decay or prove powerless before the challenges and pain of life. The things that seem so important, the priorities of our society, such as wealth, power, fame/celebrity, reputation, career, and all the things we can accumulate and own, define, control and cling to, don’t and can’t hold us in the moment of deep crisis, pain or suffering. Jesus says to let go and gather treasure that will last and sustain us – all that is represented by God’s Dream for the world, a dream called the Reign of God.

God’s Reign is grounded in love and faith. As we open our hearts to this love that comes from beyond us, beyond all things, we recognise that we are known. We are known in our deepest being and we are loved by the Love that holds everything and sustains the universe!! We are known in our deepest, most intimate place and we are loved for who we are – there is nothing we need to do to earn, prove or deserve being loved in God! Love frees us from fear, from needing to prove or justify ourselves, or keep up with others in the competition for more. 

We are invited to live with expectation, hope and faith because God is. The One who is the source and life of everything is surely to be trusted but we are urged to let go of our need to know, to define, to control. Faith puts its hope and trust in this God, even without our knowing the whole way or necessarily seeing the fullness of the outcomes. It is the impossible possibility of belief and hope against all the odds and that which we see before us. We live and grow into this faith through a faithful, trusting life that abandons all into the restless, relentless journey that challenges us to be more than we ever dreamed of being and to do more than we ever believed we might – as Fr Kolbe knew and lived!