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
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  • Week 1 - Accepting daily crosses

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« Week 43 – God and the Holocaust
Week 45 – The foolishness of following Jesus »

Week 44 – The Role of Christians and Humanity in the Holocaust

The 75th Anniversary Of the Martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe
Week 44

The Role of Christians and Humanity in the Holocaust

The human family has been divided and at war with itself ever since Cain and Abel. Ever since then Man has been murdering his brother and coming up with endless excuses to justify Himself. There is, however, no justification and there are no excuses. Just as Cain tried to hide when he murdered his brother, so humanity tries to hide the murder of millions in the Holocaust by our excuses and our ignorance and our prejudice and our rationalizations.

What does Christianity have to say to Judaism after the Holocaust?

Perhaps the death of one Jew 2000 years ago can speak to the death of six million Jews 50 years ago. Just as Christians remember the death of Jesus and His darkest hour, so we need to remember the darkest hour of the human race in the Holocaust. It is impossible to comprehend the suffering of Jesus in His crucifixion and it is just as impossible for us to comprehend what it must have been like to see one’s parent, child or friend dragged off never to be seen again or even worse murdered before your eyes.

In the suffering of those around us, we see the suffering of Christ. Even those we do not love or understand or agree with because Christ died for all. Therefore, Christ is present in all suffering and all suffering is a re-crucifixion of the Body of Christ.

In the Holocaust, like Jesus, victims were stripped of their clothes before being executed. This was for the economic benefit of the executioners. The piles of luggage, garments, shoes, jewelry, and eyeglasses discovered at the concentration camps bears, silent, witness to their plunder.

The Challenge of Forgiveness
As Jesus was dying on the cross He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Lk. 23:34

Forgiveness for stealing a pack of gum is one thing, but for murdering millions of innocent people is another and cannot be taken lightly. Jesus Himself warned of the judgment facing those who perpetrate outrages against the little ones. “It would have been better for them to have a millstone hung around their neck and be cast into the sea!” Mk. 9:42

While God is a God of forgiveness, in the face of such horror as the Holocaust is it a sin to cry out for justice instead of forgiveness? In the end, one cannot be too quick to judge another or expect them to forgive when we have not experienced what they have. The forgiveness that Jesus offered from the cross and that can be offered in the Holocaust is not a human forgiveness but a Divine Forgiveness and it is a gift that is bestowed only by God. Who receives it and when they receive it and why some may receive it and others may not is a mystery only God knows and decides.
To believe in human nature or not?
To question God or to trust in Him?
To forgive or to seek revenge?
To hope or to despair?
To go on living or to die?
In the end, each one of us has to face these questions in life and society.
These are the questions the Holocaust places before us!

Prayer: O Crucified Jesus, open my eyes to see the suffering not only of my friends and
families but to see the suffering of strangers and enemies; of those who are different and
disagree with me. For they all share in your redemptive suffering for the life of the world.

Questions and Meditations
1. Why is there war?
2. Who is my neighbor?
3. Who is suffering around me?
4. Whom do I need to forgive?
5. Where is there injustice in the world? In my city and country?

 

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 8th, 2016 at 8:56 am 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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