Every generation of young people have the saints for whom they feel a particular devotion. Teenagers and children today clearly love Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized on September 7. It makes sense; he’s one of them, a teenager himself, and someone who effortlessly used the tools of our digital world.
Many Catholics around my age, we Gen X Catholics, feel a special connection with today’s saint, Maximilian Kolbe. Maybe it’s because ours was really the last generation to grow up in the shadow of World War II -- with a real consciousness of it as a battle for humanity’s soul -- since many of us had grandparents who had fought in Europe or Japan.
Maybe it’s because we absorbed St. John Paul II’s clear admiration for St. Maximilian, these two great heroes from the Polish Church. Or maybe it’s because my generation -- which tends to be a little cynical and a little critical – simply needed someone with as much sheer heroism as St. Maximilian to win us over.
Saintly Similarities
But since coming to work here at Holy Cross Family Ministries, I have realized that St. Maximilian isn’t just someone for whom I or my generation should feel a special love. He is someone that all of us in the HCFM family should turn to for inspiration. For in some very profound ways, St. Maximilian was a kind of forerunner of our founder, Venerable Patrick Peyton.
First, St. Maximilian, even more than your average saint, was a devoted son of the Blessed Mother. As Fr. Peyton experienced Mary’s presence in his miraculous cure, St. Maximilian as a child had a mystical encounter with Mary, in which she prophesied his purity and his martyrdom. Some of you may even be familiar with a Consecration to Mary written by St. Maximilian, comparable to the one composed by St. Louis de Montfort.
Second, even before Fr. Peyton, St. Maximilian was a pioneer in the use of modern mass media in service of evangelization; he published Catholic newspapers and broadcast religious programs over the radio, way back in the 1930s.
All For the Family
But perhaps the most poignant connection between St. Maximilian’s story and Venerable Patrick’s mission is that St. Maximillian didn’t die in heroic martyrdom only for another individual. He died in sacrificial love of the family. When an inmate escaped the death camp at Auschwitz, and the Nazis, in retribution, chose 10 prisoners to die by starvation, one of those chosen, Franciszek Gajowniczek (Fran-SHEE-shek Guy-oh-VNIH-chek), begged for their mercy; he cried out that, for the sake of his wife and his children at home, he did not want to die.
It was then that St. Maximilian stepped forward and said to the Nazi commander, “I am a Catholic priest. I want to die in this man’s place.” Stunned, the guard could not say no, and St. Maximilian, after surviving many days without food or water, was killed by lethal injection on the eve of the feast of the Assumption. Franciszek died 53 years later and lived to see St. Maximilian Kolbe canonized.
Fr. Patrick Peyton, of course, did not give his life for a family, but he *spent* his life for millions of families. And we pray that one day, he will join his brother, his fellow son of the blessed Mother, in the Church’s canon of saints.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Charlie's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page..
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday–Friday. Consider inviting others to join, too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
