Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
“About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, ‘Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.’”
This passage in our first reading reminds me a lot of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s final moments in his little prison cell at Auschwitz. Singing hymns to our Lady, reciting the holy rosary and leading other Marian prayers! It has been reported that an SS guard said to one of his confidants, “he has turned this prison into a chapel! He must be crazy!” and the other guard said without missing a beat “or a saint!”
People observe the lives that we live, whether that be a religious who wears the habit, a priest who wears the collar, or a person who has a large family— by who shows their devotedness to the Lord by always caring a rosary on them or wearing a medal of our Lady or a saint. When Paul says to the guard, “do not harm yourself, we are all here.” The guard goes on to be baptized because of the power of God. We don’t know what happened to the SS guard who injected carbolic acid to St. Maximilian Kolbe on August 14, 1941, but we do know that with his lips he kept repeating, “love the Immaculata!” in a whisper. How can you show your Catholic identity and be proud of it? As the great St. John Paul II said, “be not afraid!”
Reflection by Br. Maximilian Burkhart, OSB
Posted in Article for Easter, Daily Reflections