今天是常年期第十九周星期五。教会在今天日间举行圣国柏司铎殉道的纪念日。最近出版的弥撒经书告诉我们：圣国柏（1894–1941年）是方济各住院会会士（Conventual Franciscan priest）和殉道者，出生于波兰罗兹附近。从小就对荣福童贞圣母玛利亚怀有深厚的虔诚之心，圣母在他小时在神视中向他显现，他成立圣母骑士团（Militia of the Immaculata）以此推动对荣福童贞圣母玛利亚的敬礼，他在波兰的聂波穆克（Niepokalanów）和日本的长崎（Nagasaki）建立了修院。终遭纳粹囚于奥斯维辛集中营（Auschwitz），自愿代一被判死刑的父亲赴死。圣若望保禄二世于1982年将其册封圣人，并立为“苦难二十世纪”的主保。
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.
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