A Reformation Day Reflection
Whenever I give a talk on a controversial subject, I always preface it with “If you hate me after this talk, just remember Christ said to pray for your enemies.” The following is a reflection I posted X, formally known as Twitter. It came to me as I reflected on the life of St. Maximillian Kolbe, and my first candle light vigil.
One of the key take aways from reading saints is their legendary ability to love their enemies. St. Maximillian Kolbe is a great example. Prior to his martyrdom, he did ministry in Japan, where he was joined by Protestant Bible translators who helped Kolbe with his Japanese translation of The Knight. God miraculously provided for his ministry, and there is a miraculous story around the Garden of Mary that I may cover at a later time. In the meantime, you should Google it; it’s quite extraordinary.
St. Kolbe, eventually died in Auschwitz. He was arrested multiple times. On one occasion, he was taken by the Nazis, and he gave one of the soldiers a miraculous medal. He was big fan of those apparently. The Nazi was raised Lutheran, and apparently kept it. That was his first arrest. His second was worse.
When he was arrested a second time, he was deathly ill, and upon arriving in a cell full of Christians he started hearing confessions and praying for those in his cell. A guard came in, grabbed Kolbe’s crucifix, and proceeded to beat him with it.
On each blow, the guard would ask the question “Do you believe this?”
“Yes.”
The guard struck him, again and again. Each time, Kolbe stood up, and said “Yes.”
Finally, the prisoners begged the guard to stop beating the priest. Kolbe chronically suffered from TB, and his health was a constant uncertainty throughout his ministry. The guard threw the crucifix to the ground and left. The prisoners supposedly started slandering the guard for beating an old priest so badly. Kolbe said they must not be like the Nazis, but rather love their enemies. He exhorted the prisoners to avoid being like the Nazis and operating in hate. Eventually, St. Kolbe would die in Auschwitz giving his life for another prisoner.
We who claim to serve Christ must remember that the world does not see our denominational differences, and will treat the protestant and the catholic the same. Too many of us are like Peter, drawing the sword ready to cut off the ear of the first guard that mocks our faith. But Christ is more than capable of defending himself from a couple of digital squabbles.
Protestant and Catholics are not the same, but they are not enemies. If we are to love our enemies and pray for them, how much more so those outside the church?
Have a great All Saints Day!