Militia of the Immaculata: M.I. Canada
  • Week 52 - HOMILY AT THE CANONIZATION OF ST. MAXIMILIAN MARY KOLBE
  • Week 51 - A Holocaust of Sacrifice
  • Week 50 The Tree of Life
  • Week 49 The Other Nine
  • Week 48 I Am A Catholic Priest
  • Week 47 - Francis Gajowinczek
  • Week 46 - The Holy Spirit and the Immaculate Conception
  • Week 45 - The foolishness of following Jesus
  • Week 44 - The Role of Christians and Humanity in the Holocaust
  • Week 43 - God and the Holocaust
  • Week 42 - Why does God not intervene?
  • Week 41 - The Garden of Auschwitz
  • Week 40 - The Shoah
  • Week 39 - Hannah Arendt
  • Week 38 - Adolf Eichmann
  • Week 37 - The Banality of Evil
  • Week 36 - Kolbe and Antisemitism
  • Week 35 - Did Hitler Win
  • Week 34 - Ashes to Ashes
  • Week 31 - Kolbe in Auschwitz Part 1
  • Week 30 - Auschwitz
  • Week 29 - Pawiak Prison
  • Week 28 - Work makes free
  • Week 27 - The Final Solution
  • Week 26 - From Nurnberg to Auschwitz
  • Week 25 - The Roots of Anti Semitism
  • Week 24 - Cain and Abel
  • Week 23 - Blessed are ye
  • Week 22 - Blessed are the peace makers
  • Week 21 Blessed are the pure in heart
  • Week 20 Blessed are the merciful
  • Week 19 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness
  • Week 18 - Blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the earth
  • Week 17 - Blessed are those who mourn
  • Week 16 - Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
  • Week 15 Missionary in Japan
  • Week 14 Niepekalanow
  • Week 13 The Martyrdom of Self Reliance
  • Week 12 Martyrdom of Disunity
  • Week 11 - The Martyrdom of Work
  • Week 10 - The Colosseum
  • Week 9 Persecution of the Church
  • Week 8 - The Founding of the Militia of the Immaculata
  • Week 7 - Martyrdom of Health
  • Week 6 - The Martyrdom of Obedience
  • Week 5 - Growing up
  • Week 4 - The Martyrdom of Leaving Home
  • Week 3 - Two Crowns.
  • Week 2 - The Martyrdom of Country
  • Week 1 - Accepting daily crosses

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« Week 14 Niepekalanow
Week 16 – Blessed are the Poor in Spirit »

Week 15 Missionary in Japan

Week 15 Missionary in Japan

75th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe

Week 15. November 20-27

Martyrdom of the Mission in Japan

People often have a romantic image of missionaries going off to exotic lands and people welcoming them with open arms and asking to be baptized. Maybe in the movies, but not in real life. The truth is that every country in the world was mission land at one time or another and today some are returning to being mission land once again because of the decline of Christianity, and the rise of atheism and secularism.

Maximilian’s mission work in Japan was real not romantic!

The premises were so camped that the friars had to sleep in the attic. And when they walked, they had to be careful not to dislodge the nails from the rafters.

From Nagasaki Kolbe wrote,

” There are times our souls are homesick for the Polish Niepekalanow, but these are only moments. Because when we think that eventually we will meet in paradise, a joyful enthusiasm takes over our hearts, together with a deep longing to be consumed for God.”

“My scribbling is spotted with the blood of Japanese gnats, the big ones but especially the small ones that buzz around everywhere and end up on the sheet of my paper. It is simply impossible to drive them all out.”

“I am overloaded with work. Our task here is very simple: working hard all day; working ourselves to death. Being considered a little less than a fool by our own people and exhausted, dying for the Immaculata.”

Kolbe’s mission in Japan was marked by homesickness, poverty, gnats, and hard work.

Yet in the face of all of these difficulties Maximilian could write,

“Glory to the Immaculata for all. Among us things are going more than well, and as soon as any suffering presents itself, it vanishes immediately. In fact the Immaculata sweetens it tremendously. It almost seems like the calm that invites us to prepare before a new storm. Still for the moment the horizon is serene and the sun is shining marvelously. It almost seems a bit strange after so many and such heavy crosses; it is almost difficult to become accustomed to.

Prayer :

O Immaculata, you knew the Joy of Bethlehem and the Sorrow of Calvary, may we accept the sorrows and crosses of our lives as easily as we accept the joys, knowing that you are always with us as you were always with Jesus in His joys and sorrows. Amen.

Meditations and Questions:

1. How far are we willing to go to spread the Gospel :

– emotionally, spiritually, economically and geographically?

2. Do our crosses ever overcome our joys?

3. What were Maximilian’s difficulties in Japan?

4. How did he handle or carry his crosses in Japan?

5. What are our crosses and how do we carry them.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2015 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Fr. Patrick’s reflections on St Maximilian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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