Fr Kevin Kilgore

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John 15: 12-16

Jesus said to his disciples:
“”This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.””

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s an old Swedish proverb, “Those who wish to sing always find a song.”

In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, those who wish to sing always find a song.

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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Maximillian Kolbe, priest and martyr. Maximillian was one of millions of prisoners sent to Auschwitz, the most infamous death camp of World War Two, perhaps the worst in history. 

One day while working in the camp, another prisoner tried escaping. Furious over the attempt, the camp guards selected ten other men to be put to death in his place.

One of the men selected pleaded for mercy, telling the guards that he was a father and a husband. Then Saint Maximillian stepped forward and said, “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place.”

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Maximillian and the other nine men were thrown into a hole, condemned to death by starvation. Heroically, Maximillian led those men in prayer and song for nearly two weeks.

Survivors from Auschwitz later recounted how the prisoners’ singing could be heard rising out of the ground at all hours of the night, making it sound like a church choir buried in the depths of hell. The hope was contagious. 

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What might Maximillian’s life say to us today?

No matter where we find ourselves – in good times or in bad, in sickness or in health, on a mountaintop or in the belly of the earth – we all have a reason to sing a song.

Jesus has been raised from the dead, and because of him, so will Saint Maximillian, his companions, and all who place their hope in God. 

Saint Maximillian Kolbe, pray for us!

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Image credits: (1) Vatican News (2) More Info, Auschwitz (3) Amazon.com

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Gospel: Matthew 18: 21 – 19:1

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed,
and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Imagine Saint Peter cautiously approaching Jesus. The good news / bad news is that Peter has another question. He’s held onto it as long as he can. 

Afraid of how Jesus might answer – and rightly so – Peter finally swallows the lump in his throat and summons the courage to ask:

“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Peter didn’t just pick a number; according to Jewish tradition, seven was considered the outward limit of generosity.

“I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times,” Jesus says. Meaning, without limit.

I’d imagine Peter looked down at the ground, shuffled his feet, slid his hands back into his pockets, and exhaled exasperated, thinking to himself, “Well, that’s simply impossible.”

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It seems Peter has yet to learn the inner dynamics of forgiveness. 

So, Jesus tells him a parable about a king whose servants were subject to his authority. One of the king’s servants owed him an incredible amount of money – a debt so large the man never could’ve repaid it.

Because of his compassion, the king released the man from his debt. But when the man got home, he choked someone else who owed him a much smaller debt – pennies on the dollar. 

When word got back to the king, he was enraged for the man’s pettiness and punished him severely.

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In the parable, God is the king and we are his subjects. Because the Lord forgives us our every trespass, he expects us to extend that same kindness towards others. But this begs the question, “Why is it so difficult for us to forgive other people?”

While there may be a variety of reasons, perhaps one may be this – we haven’t felt genuinely forgiven by God. Only those who’ve experienced this interior freedom, this fruit of grace, can extend that same kindness to others. 

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Do I feel forgiven by God for my past or present sins? Has this freed me to forgive others? 

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May we forgive others from the heart, lest we forfeit God’s own forgiveness towards us. 

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Image credits: (1) Harvard Gazette (2) No Longer Lukewarm (3) Medium

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Gospel: Matthew 18: 15-20

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that  every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church.
If he refuses to listen even to the Church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Conflict is part of the human experience. Some people avoid it at all costs while others may seek it out.

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When we argue – especially with family members – it’s easy to dig in, clinging to the need to be right. And after an argument concludes, there’s often the aftermath of silence as resentment is buried in our hearts. 

If these hurt feelings are not addressed quickly, then they become quite acidic, which is what Jesus is addressing in today’s Gospel. “If your brother or sister sins against you, go tell them!” 

He doesn’t say, “Play the silent game… Insult them… Or, gradually grow apart.” 

No, tell them, because there is nothing more important to the Lord than unity within the Christian community. We are relational beings who need each other, even if we disagree every so often.

As Saint Paul says in his First Letter to the Corinthians (a community that risked division), “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”

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Are there any unresolved conflicts in my personal life? Is there any way they might be resolved?

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To resolve a conflict, sometimes we need to make the first move.

In the very least, we can pray for our brothers and sisters – for their peace, for their salvation, and for an openness to the unity which Christ longs for us to share.

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Image credits: (1) SoundCloud (2) WalklikeJesus, WordPress (3) Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope