Treasuring Christ Above All Things

III. Peter’s Wrong Responses: Denial and Containment

A. On the road: Peter tried to avoid the cross; a denial of the asceticism required by the Gospel

B. On the mountain: Peter tried to possess the beauty of the moment; an attempt to contain and control the white-hot presence of Christ; to hold the weight of glory in his hands.

A Final Illustration: Father Kolbe

Raymond Kolbe was born on January 8, 1894 in Poland, the second son of an impoverished weaver. Early in his childhood, his heart was drawn to God, and in 1910 he became a Franciscan monk, taking the name Maximillian. He was immensely successful in his order. He studied at Rome, and became a professor of church history. He founded a monastery near Warsaw which, at its peak, housed 762 monks and printed 11 periodicals, one of which circulated over a million copies. In 1930 Kolbe was sent to Asia, where he founded monasteries in Nagasaki and India. Six years later he was called back to Warsaw to oversee his original monastery. In 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, he dismissed most of his monks for their safety. He, however, remained behind, and was eventually arrested for using his monastery as a shelter for over 3,000 refugees, including 2,000 Jews. He was sent to Auschwitz in May of 1941.

His presence at Auschwitz was a living example of the person of Christ. One day an SS officer loaded Kolbe’s back with heavy planks and forced him to run. When he fell, the guard kicked him in the face and stomach repeatedly. When Kolbe lost consciousness, the Nazis left him for dead. Some other prisoners smuggled him to the camp infirmary. His doctor, Rudolph Diem, would later say of him: “I can say with certainty that during my four years at Auschwitz, I never saw such a sublime example of the love of God and one’s neighbor.”

After his recovery, Kolbe was returned to the work details. The workers were fed only a cup of imitation coffee in the morning, and weak soup and bread after work. There was not always enough food, and Kolbe often gave his portion to other starving prisoners. Eyewitnesses say that at night, he would not lie down to rest, but would go quietly from cot to cot, asking, “I am a Catholic priest. Is there anything I can do for you?” Late into the night he would hear confessions, pray, and share Christ with the dying. When he was beaten, he did not cry out, but prayed for his tormentors.

Maximillian Kolbe’s greatest ministry began in July, 1941. The SS guards had a policy that if one man escaped, ten would be starved to death in his place. One day the count was one man short. Ten men were called forward to die. One of them was Franciszek Gajowniczek, a Polish freedom fighter. Unable to contain himself, he cried out, “My poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?”

At this, Kolbe stepped forward to the ranking officer, removed his hat, and said quietly, “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place. I am old. He has a wife and children.” The guard stood, stone-faced, for a moment, then shoved Gajowniczek back in line. Better to kill an old priest than a young, strong man. Kolbe was led with the others into the cellar of the starvation building.