Memorial, St. Maximilian Kolbe August 14, 2026
Fr. Alexander Albert Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville
Parents & grandparents, if your child or grandchild was in danger and the only way to save them would mean you had to die… would you do it? Would you trade your life for theirs? Students, raise your hand if you have younger brother or sister. Don’t raise your hand for this one, but think about this: would you trade your life to save your younger sibling? People, would you trade your life for your best friend? For your neighbor? Would you trade your life to save someone you never met?
Because that’s what St. Maximilian Kolbe did. Max was born in 1894 in Poland. When he grew up, he joined a religious order known as the Franciscans. That’s the group started by St. Francis of Assisi like 800 years ago – they wear long brown or grey robes and they serve the poor. As a Franciscan priest, Max feel deeply in love with God. He loved Jesus. He loved Mary, our mother. He loved God’s people. He spent some time in Nagasaki, Japan where he taught people about Jesus and met a doctor named Takashi Nagai. When Fr. Kolbe got back to Poland, World War II happened and he got captured by the Nazis because the Nazis hated Catholic priests almost as much as they hated Jewish people.
While he was in one of the Nazi camps, a fellow prisoner escaped and the guards decided to punish everyone else for it. They picked out 10 men at random to kill. They did not pick Fr. Kolbe. One of the guys they did pick, however, named Franciszek, fell down on his knees and begged to be spared. Fr. Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and said, “I’ll take his place.” Fr. Kolbe did not know this man. He was a stranger who just so happened to be in the same prison camp. But he offered to trade his life for this stranger. For some reason, the Nazis agreed.
They tried to starve Fr. Kolbe to death, but he just sat in his cell and sang and prayed for days and days and days. Eventually, the Nazis got tired of waiting and killed him. Fr. Koble died to save the life of someone he did not know. Franciszek did survive and he was there when the pope declared Fr. Kolbe to be St. Maximilian Kolbe.
Why, though? Why did Fr. Kolbe do that? Because of what St. John the Apostle tells us in the bible: “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers.” Max was not afraid to die because he knew that love conquers death. Maximilian Kolbe believed that love conquers death and he saw an opportunity to love in the best way possible. As Jesus says in the gospel “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Even though Max didn’t actually know Franciszek but as a good Christian, Maximilian Kolbe saw every human being as a precious to God, as a friend, as a brother or sister. As a priest, he saw every human being as a son or daughter of God and therefore as one of his own spiritual children. So he saw the chance to love in the same way Jesus did.
Unlike St. Kolbe, Jesus does know everyone. And when Jesus decided to die to save us, he knew how sinful we are. He didn’t die for us because we asked for it. He didn’t die for us because we deserved it. We don’t deserve it. We’re selfish and sinful and shortsighted. But Jesus looked at us, saw just how bad we were and said, “I’m going to die for them anyway.” Why? Because he loves us whether we deserve it or not. He loves us whether we want it or not.
And what is love? Love is “to will the good of the other.” Repeat after me: “love is to will the good of the other.” Fr. Max saw Franciszek and willed his good, he chose to do good for him. Jesus sees us and chooses to do good for us. And because love is so powerful, those who choose to love, those who “will the good of the other” have “passed from death to life.”
That’s why, even though St. Kolbe was murdered by Nazis, we are celebrating today. He went into eternal life. The goal of life on earth is not survival. It’s not to get rich. It’s not to be popular. The goal of life on this earth is to love so that we can pass on to eternal life in heaven. Because this world is so broken and because we are sinners, that journey from earthly life to heavenly life means we have to go through death first. But if we have real love, we pass from death to life.
This is why, even though we miss Mason and mourn for him, we also still have hope and joy. As we said in our psalm, “precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.” God sees our death through the lens of love and, if we are faithful, he makes that death precious because he makes it the doorway to eternal life. Now look, we can’t just assume that everyone goes to heaven. God tells us how to get there and he makes it clear that we have a choice. Our choices in this life really do matter. If we choose to love, if we choose to be faithful, if we choose to ask for forgiveness for our sins, then we get to go to heaven when we die. Sometimes we see someone make such an amazing choice of love – like St. Kolbe dying for a stranger – that we know that person went straight to heaven. Most of us, however, make some good choices and some bad ones. If we’re still faithful, if we still try to choose love and God, then God will fix the bad choices. That’s why we pray for those who have died. We are not afraid, but we just want to help them receive God’s mercy. So keep praying for Mason. Keep praying for all our loved ones who died, but do not be afraid. They are precious in the eyes of the lord. That’s just one way we can keep loving them, we can keep “willing the good of the other.”
So, will the good of our faithful departed. But also, “will the good” of your family, your friends, your classmates, and even of strangers. Why? Because if you “will the good” of others, if you love them, then you can overcome even death. Truly, Jesus loves you. He sees you in your worst moment and chooses to die for you anyway. Don’t worry about trying to earn that love. You can’t. But you can thank God for it. How? Our psalm just told us: “How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD.”
What is the cup of salvation? It’s a symbol. It means accepting God’s plan for your life. Whether you become a priest like Max Kolbe or a doctor like Takashi Nagai or a teacher a welder or a farmer or an astronaut… God does have a plan for you and there is one thing in common for all of God’s plans. Love. What is love? Say it with me: love is to will the good of the other.
So, love! Choose to do good for someone else. Choose to do something that costs you. Try to sacrifice to help others. That is the “cup of salvation” which you can use to thank God for loving you so much. That “cup of salvation” also represents another thing. There, the chalice at Mass. The Eucharist. Eucharist means thanksgiving, so we go to Mass to thank God for loving us and saving us. When we go to Mass, we can help those who have died get to heaven faster. When we go to Mass it helps us accept God’s love. When we go to Mass, it helps us love God and it helps us love each other.
The point isn’t that everyone literally needs to touch the cup, the chalice. It’s a symbol of going to Mass and, if you’re properly disposed, of receiving communion, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. It’s why I’m going to bring the Eucharist, to bring Jesus to each and every classroom today so we can let God love us and he can help us love him and each other. So, love each other the way he loves us. Why? Because that’s the kind of love that even death cannot stop.