14 Aug 2015
Memorial of St Maximilian Kolbe
“Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him.” They have a knack for asking him really good,
solid questions. It’s too bad that don’t
actually want to hear the answer.
And there are people today who question Jesus and his Church;
although, sometimes, all they want to do is argue. They ask some really important questions: “Why
can’t I get married? What’s so bad about
divorce? In the Evangelical church they
do this or that . . . why don’t we do that?”
They’re good questions. It’s too
bad they just want to argue instead of learn something from God.
In the face of the Pharisees, Jesus simply answered their
questions with honesty, with compassion, with the truth that only he would
know. And he left them to decide. He didn’t force them to accept him; instead,
he simply loved them and let them be.
And in that, he shows us how to respond to those who just
want to argue with the Church and with God; who don’t have any real interest in
learning anything from God. We hear
their questions, we listen to them with an empathetic ear, we respond to them as
best we can, and we let them know we are always here for them.
It’s a lesson St Maximilian Kolbe knew well: he loved those
who hated him, and then let them put him to death in a concentration camp. He was an image of our Lord, who loves those who
hate him, and them lets them be. And
that is our lesson today: to love those who hate us, and let them make their
own choices.
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