A simple line from today’s Gospel, with so much meaning.
Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him,
and he will be raised on the third day.”
How fitting for today, the day we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe.
He, too, was handed over to men.
He, too, was killed.
He, too, was raised to new life, according to the teachings – and the eternal Hope – of our faith.
Can you imagine those horrible final days inside a cell at the Auschwitz concentration camp?
No food, no water.
Starvation and dehydration slowly settling in to the Polish priest and nine other Jewish prisoners of the Nazi death camp.
Kolbe didn’t necessarily have to be there. He could have minded his own business. Death would more than likely come – as it did to about 3 million persons at Auschwitz alone, killed through gassing, starvation, disease, shooting, burning and horrible medical tests. Most of those murdered were Jews, but there were also Gypsies, Soviet POWs, and prisoners of all nationalities.
Certainly, death would come; but for the priest, it did not have to come so quickly.
The story goes that as the Nazi killers were dragging away 10 fellow prisoners in retaliation to one other who had reportedly escaped … one man cried out for mercy because he wanted to see his family. Fr. Kolbe stepped in and took his place.
Handed over to men.
Killed.
Nearly starved to death before being injected with carbolic acid … a horrible way to suffer and die.
So many victims. It boggles the mind and pains the heart.
Christ did not necessarily have to suffer either, one might argue. He could have found a way to avoid crucifixion … to compromise … to tone down his “religious rhetoric” … or maybe to run far, far away.
But he didn’t.
He stepped in.
Took his cross … OUR cross.
He suffered humiliation, torture, pain and ultimately a cruel death.
Handed over to men.
Killed.
Raised up on the third day.
Meanwhile we wait.
We hope.
We watch the terrors of an ugly world continue to take place.
So much hatred. Violence. Murder.
There may come a time in our lives … in your life …
You may be at the wrong place at the right time.
You may have the chance to show your love.
To step in.
To be handed over to men.
Killed.
On that day, will you have the faith to boldly step forward?
Three days later …
That is our Christian hope …
We love, we sacrifice, we rise!
Together we say … “Saint Maximilian Kolbe … PRAY FOR US.”
