Maximilian Mary Kolbe
Priest, Memorial
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
Maximilian Mary Kolbe became a Franciscan Conventual. He was a great devotee of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was interned in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. When the father of a large family was hand-picked for extermination, Fr. Maximilian offered himself to the commander to die in the man’s place. He was starved to death. Pope John Paul II proclaimed him the Patron of our Suffering Century.
Opening Prayer
God our Father,
St. Maximilian Kolbe practiced
what your Son Jesus called
the greatest love that disposes a person
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Through Jesus, who calls us his friends,
and with the help of the prayers of St Maximilian
make our love as strong as life and death.
Let it always have the last word in us
and be given for free, like yours.
Make us love one another as Jesus has loved us,
he who is our Lord for ever.
First Reading
The Righteous Are at Peace
The souls of the righteous are in God’s hands, and no suffering shall harm them.
In the eyes of the foolish, they seem dead. Their departure is regarded as a tragedy;
it looks like they lose everything by leaving us, but they are at peace.
Although it appears they have been punished, immortality was the hope of their soul.
After mild suffering, great blessings will follow, for God has tested them and found them worthy to be with him;
after refining them like gold in the furnace, he has accepted them as a sacrifice.
When he comes, they will shine like sparks flying in the dry grass.
They will lead nations and govern peoples, and the Lord will reign as their king forever.
Those who trust in him will understand the truth, and those faithful will live in his love, for his grace and mercy are for his chosen ones.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 116:10-11, 12-13, 16ac-17
R. (15) Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
I believed, even when I said,
"I am greatly afflicted";
I said in my alarm,
"No man is dependable."
R. Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
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.
R. Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
O LORD, I am your servant;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If you hate your life in this world,
you will preserve it to life eternal.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved you!
There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends;
and you are my friends if you do what I command you.
I shall not call you servants anymore, because servants do not know what their master is about. Instead, I have called you friends, since I have made known to you everything I learned from my Father.
You did not choose me; it was I who chose you and sent you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will remain. And everything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
Prayers of the Faithful
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, loving Father,
your love appeared with a human face
in your Son Jesus Christ.
He showed all the depth of your love and his
by laying down his life for us, his friends.
May he be our food
on the road of life and of love
not only when it is easy to love
but also when it is hard to be faithful
and when love demands self-forgetting sacrifice.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our loving God,
in this eucharistic celebration
you have given us new proof of your love
by giving us your Son and his Spirit.
Jesus has strengthened our love.
Accept our thanks and bring out the best in us,
that we may bear rich fruit of faithful, reliable love.
Let your Spirit unite us
to build community with one another
and to live in your love and joy
now and for ever.