Photo by Tina Vanhove
An honest reflection of the world around us might lead to a grim conclusion. One that reflects a state of total disorder. In the darkness of these times, the example of two men who endured dreadful realities, themselves, are worth reflection.
The world really is in disorder. It should be ordered towards Christ and His divine teaching, not towards the pleasures and fame of man. With confusion deeply seeded in the world, it is hard to discover truth or even where she can be found.
We, Catholics, have the privilege of having a relationship with Truth - Jesus Christ, Himself. He is the embodiment of the transcendentals (truth, beauty, and goodness) because He is fully God. This ultimate relationship with the Divine then compels us to share our deep peace and perspective on life with others. To “go and make disciples of all nations” as St. Matthew writes at the end of his Gospel (28:19-20, RSV)
I would like to emphasize the importance of this Great Commission by focusing on the final assurance Jesus gave, I am with you always. In order to emphasize this, I will share how two men’s lives exemplified this belief: St. Maximilian Kolbe and Servant of God Fr. Walter Ciszek. St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest in the early 20th Century. He famously chose the crowns of purity and martyrdom in a vision during one of his prayers. His passion was Our Lady and sharing how beautiful the way to Jesus was through the Immaculata. This great love for the Mother of God inspired him to found the “Militia Immaculata”, a group of likeminded priests and brothers, whose sole purpose was to conquer the hearts of the world in the name of Mary. The world did not make it easy for him when in September 1939, WWII began, and Poland was literally caught in the middle of it. While Kolbe could still operate under Nazi occupation, his denunciation of Nazism made him a target. In 1941, while writing on the nature of Mary as the Immaculata, he was beaten by the Gestapo and sent to a living hell on earth: the concentration camp, Auschwitz.
Inside of the death camp, St. Max chose to maintain his charming smile and exercise his role as a priest of God. He continued to secretly minister to fellow prisoners by hearing confessions, praying, and whatever he could despite beatings by the guardsmen. In the heart of evil, he still remained calm, peaceful, and full of his wit. This disposition can only come from firmly believing that God was with him and that all of this suffering was part of God’s divine providence. He carried this peace with him, especially when he volunteered his life for another man, a husband and father. Kolbe was placed in a cell in order to starve to death but was later lethally injected in order for his cell to be for another (trying to starve a Franciscan is quite ironic).
From the German death camps, let us turn our attention to the other 20th century living hell: the Soviet gulag. Anyone who has read the Gulag Archipelago will know how before even getting to a gulag, a prisoner is bounced around prison to prison; while being fed nothing but small amounts of bread and light soup, routinely interrogated and beaten, and then sentenced to Siberia. One of the few individuals who survived this was Fr. Walter Ciszek.
Born in the United States, Ciszek’s stubbornness and courage led him to become a Jesuit priest. God quickly rewarded him with a seemingly impossible dream: to minister to the people in Soviet Russia. During the early years of the Soviet Union, no religion was allowed to be practiced and many properties, Orthodox and Catholic alike, were raided and confiscated. This harsh reality motivated Ciszek even more to bring Jesus to a flock without a shepherd. Posing undercover as a worker in order to survey a possibility for Rome to send priests, Ciszek was caught and subjected to a combined 23 years in prisons, gulags, and exile in Siberia.
In his memoir “With God in Russia”, Ciszek describes, with at times disturbing detail, what he experienced during his trial. He was actually in Poland at the same time as Kolbe when the Germans and Soviets attacked simultaneously; but was subjected to Soviet occupation. He was bounced around prisons in Moscow during the German bombings before being shipped off to a gulag. Living in Siberia, arguably the coldest place on earth, he would work grueling 14 hour labor shifts with no break or even proper winter clothes. Ciszek describes the smells and sights of the gulag to a point that you feel like you are there with him as he recalls these memories.
Was Ciszek as joyful or charming as Kolbe was in this living hell? Not in the slightest! In fact, Ciszek did what he could to survive: stealing and hiding food, lying about illnesses so that his body could rest, and even sticking up for himself with “uncharitable” words. He even participated in a camp revolt by helping build fortifications, and against the Soviet soldiers trying to restore order.
The ugliness that he found himself suffering in did not, however, prevent him from living out his call from God. Ciszek managed to fulfill his dream of ministering to the Russian people, though in secret. He would patiently wait until religion was brought up with the fellow prisoners and then follow the Holy Spirit in deciding how to appropriately minister without bringing attention to himself. Whether it be walking and hearing confessions, celebrating Mass in the forest while someone kept watch, or secretly anointing the sick. His book routinely states that though he was tired, sore, and starving, he leaned even more on God and believed that this was how he was to acquire salvation. The United States was able to secure his release after 23 years and he finally returned home, which is when he wrote his book.
What do we make of these two brave souls and their unique sufferings? They never once doubted God’s love and providence for their particular lives. Though St. Max and Ciszek were in the belly of the beast, they knew that God was with them. Despite the horrors and sufferings around them, giving them every logical reason to doubt that God had their best interest at heart, they lived out their call as soldiers of Christ.
Now take a look around you, my dear reader, and ponder on the state of the world today. Are we also not in the belly of the beast? Isolation, plague, political division; these are surely reasons to doubt that God has our best interest at heart.
St. Max and Ciszek never doubted that God was with them; even in labour and death camps. This brought peace and order in their hearts which gave them the strength to endure their particular trials.
As we face our own trials in 2021, will we also believe that God is with us?
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