«Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends» (John 15:13).
IS THERE ANY PERSON IN THIS WORLD for whom you would gladly die so that person could live?
A story that comes to us from the days of the Second World War tells us that that was precisely what Maximilian Kolbe, a prisoner priest at Auschwitz did. You probably already know the story. It says that one day, a prisoner escaped. When that happened, the custom was to choose ten prisoners who would be killed. After the victims had been chosen, one of them, a Polish prisoner named Franciszek, began to cry. Sobbing, he shouted, «For God’s sake! I have a wife and children!»
When Maximilian saw his friend cry like that, he asked permission to speak to the officer in charge of the execution.
«What do you want?» asked the soldier, as he pointed his gun at him.
«I want to die instead of him,» he said, pointing at his friend. I’m already old and I don’t have a wife or children.»
On August 14, 1941, Maximilian Kolbe died so his friend, Franciszek Gajowniczek, could live. As today’s text says, «Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends (John 15:13).
I have read that, as longed as he lived, every August 14, Franciszek traveled to Auschwitz to pay tribute to the memory of the man who had died in his place and placed a plaque in the yard of his house that he himself had carved as a reminder of what is undoubtedly the greatest sacrifice that one human being could make for another.
Of course, more important than the trips to Auschwitz and the plaque is the kind of life this man led, aware that he lived because another preferred to die for him. Did Franciszek live in a noble and dignified manner until the day of his death?
I do not know how Franciszek lived during those 44 years (Kolbe died in 1941; Franciszek, in 1995), nor is it our business. What is our business is that the Son of God died, between two criminals.
Jesus Christ suffered all kinds of abuse and humiliation for you and me, even though He never did anything wrong to deserve such mistreatment. What kind of life do we lead? Are we living to please our whims and appetites or to honor the name of the One who shed His precious blood on a cross out of love for you and me?
Heavenly Father, please help me never to lose sight of the fact that it is thanks to the death of Your Son that I live today and that it is thanks to Him that I have the hope of eternal life today.
Please prepare me to live in a way that glorifies His holy name.
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Taken from: Devotional Readings for Adults 2022
“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”
From: FERNANDO ZABALA
Colaboradores: Xiomara Perdomo & Angelica Cuate
