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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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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.
During the Second World War, Maximillian was one of the millions of prisoners sent to Auschwitz, the most infamous death camp in history.
One day while he was working in the camp, another prisoner tried escaping. Furious over the attempt, the 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 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.
He led those men in prayer for nearly two weeks, trusting the Lord’s words in today’s Gospel: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Personal accounts recalled how the prisoners’ singing could be heard rising out of the ground at all hours of the day, making it sound like a church choir buried in the depths of hell. The hope was contagious.
“Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
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Our song is of praise and thanksgiving, because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead – and because of him, so shall we!
Saint Maximillian Kolbe, pray for us!
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Image credits: (1) Benedict XVI Institute (2) Cross Catholic Outreach (3) Musical Notes Silhouette, Amazon.com