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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 is the Feast of Saint Maximillian Kolbe, priest and martyr.
Some of us remember his story. He was one of the millions of prisoners sent to Auschwitz, the most infamous death camp in history.
One day while working in the camp, another prisoner tried to escape. Furious over the attempt, the camp guards selected ten other men to be put to death.
Before they were shot, one of the men pleaded for mercy, telling the guards he was a father and a husband.
Maximillian stepped forward and said, “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place.”
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He and the nine other men were thrown into a hole, condemned to a slow death by starvation.
Maximillian led those men in prayer for nearly two weeks. Personal accounts told how singing could be heard rising from the ground, making it sound like a church hidden inside Auschwitz.
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“Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
Maximilian lifted those men from the pit of despair showing us that, like St. Paul, “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”
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No matter where we find ourselves today – in good times or in bad, in sickness or in health – we have a reason to sing.
Jesus Christ has died for us and has been raised from the dead.
Sing with all the Saints, “Amen. Alleluia!”
