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Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle I

Deut 19,12-22; Matt 17, 22-27

St Maximilian Kolbe OFM, Priest and Martyr

I have been thinking lately about what might it be that turns a person into a good man or woman. Despite all the efforts, all too often, we seem to somehow miss the mark. After all this is what the word sin means in Greek: hamartia, to miss the mark. This might easily lead to discouragement and we might even end up abandoning completely the idea that we can somehow change.

Seen from a distance, living a good and holy life can seem a bit daunting. When we are presented with a figure like the saint that we are celebrating today, St Maximilian Kolbe, we might feel so weak and fragile that we conclude that perhaps we can never become good persons of that stature.

However we have to keep in mind that St Maximilian's final act of giving up his life in the concentration camps in exchange of a father of a family was just the last of a number of other small acts of love. Throughout his life he practiced over an over again saying yes to God in the simplest things and giving up his life for his brothers and sisters even for might seem the most trivial things. Little acts of charity lead to larger acts of charity. Most important however, is the spirit with which our acts of kindness are done.

Deep in his heart, Maximilian had this desire to love God and make him known and loved by others. It is this which led him to join the Franciscan Order at the tender age of 16 and ordained eight years later. His love for God made him sensitive to what the world was passing through then: a spiritual dryness. The sensitive young priest that he was, Maximilian believed that this lack of God can be made up for through the means of modern communication of the time, and therefore founded a newspaper, then went to Japan and also studied the local religions. In other words, he allowed his selflessness to become whom God created him to be. St Catherine of Siena used to say, "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." This is exactly what Maximilian did.

They say that there are two things that are sure in life: death and taxes. I can add many others, for example, the fact that nobody enjoys paying taxes, including, apparently Jesus and Peter, and that (sorry to burst your bubble) if you go fishing in the Charles River, or off the Castle Island and catch a fish, you will surely find no money in its mouth! There are many levels on which we can read today's Gospel. One is the historic level: The Romans demanded the Jews to pay taxes for thier temple. Another level however is also the symbolic level, which the early Christians would have immediately recognised. The fish in the first centuries symbolised Christ himself, the tax coin symbolises the price of the redemption through which we have been freed by Jesus, and Peter as the head of the Church symbolizes the Church itself.

Therefore, in just a few words, none of our heroic works can save us, for we have already been saved by Christ. However, like Peter's going fishing, and Maximilian's doing small acts of kindness and charity, we too are called to take every opportunity that comes our way to do good. Both St Peter and St Maximilian eventually gave their life for others, and ultimately for Christ, and our seemingly non-heroic deeds will change our heart into one like theirs.

There is no one big action which changes us into good men and women, but several small actions done from the heart, and a heart which is oriented to God and for God.