August 14, 2026
Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
Gospel: Mt 18:21–19:1

Today is Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates today the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr.

The recently published Missal reminds us: Saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894–1941), a Conventual Franciscan priest and martyr, was born near Łódź, Poland. Marked by an ardent devotion to the Immaculate Virgin, who had appeared to him in a vision as a child, he founded the Militia of the Immaculata to promote Marian consecration and established monasteries in Niepokalanów (Poland) and Nagasaki (Japan). Eventually imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz, he voluntarily offered himself in exchange for a condemned father sentenced to death. Saint John Paul II canonized him in 1982 and proclaimed him the patron of the “suffering” twentieth century.

The Gospel passage for today’s Mass is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.

In our daily lives, we often quarrel with others over trivial matters and frequently feel that we have been wronged by others. At times, like Peter, we too want to ask Jesus: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?” (cf. Mt 18:21). In our eyes, there seems to be a limit to our tolerance toward others. Yet Jesus tells us: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (cf. Mt 18:22). That is: unconditional forgiveness, boundless mercy.

To illustrate this lesson on forgiveness more clearly, Jesus tells a parable (cf. Mt 18:23–35), teaching us that our heavenly Father, rich in mercy, willed to give us His beloved Son, so that through His sufferings and death on the Cross, we might atone for our sins. Our lives are therefore of immense worth, for God has redeemed us at the cost of His own life. He redeemed us not that we might repay Him with our lives—for we are His creation, and our very life is His gift.

Today, as the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr, she invites us to imitate his virtuous example: to proclaim the word of God to the world with the fervor of a martyr, and to bear witness to the truth through concrete action. On this Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr, let us pray together:

O God, who filled the Priest and Martyr Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary
and with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant, through his intercession,
that, striving for your glory by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed, even until death, to your Son.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica