Four Responses to Evil
During the first few days of my dad’s illness I was spending lots of time sitting in a hospital room with time to read. The book I was reading was called, “The Miraculous Medal, Pendant of Power,” by Christine Watkins. One of the stories in this book is about St. Maximilian Kolbe. Most of you are probably familiar with him, but for those who aren’t here is a brief recap (taken from the book referenced above):
Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest who lived from 1894 to 1941. During the Nazi occupation of Poland he saved the lives of more than 2,000 Jews by hiding them in his friary in Niepokalanow. He also continued to print his daily newspaper and monthly magazine, and thereby was labeled as “a dangerous person” by the Nazis. Even after his monastery’s buildings were plundered by the Nazis, and his printing equipment was destroyed, he managed to print one more magazine…before finally being arrested by the Gestapo on the morning of February 17th, along with four other friars. As they were being led away, Fr. Kolbe was said to have consoled his brother friars, who were fearful of their fate, by telling them, “Courage, my sons. Don’t you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well, in order to win as many souls as possible.”
At the age of 47, he was sent to Auschwitz and was given the prisoner number 16670. Survivors reported that while there, Fr. Kolbe calmed and comforted the other prisoners, even giving away his meager rations. When beaten by the guards, he never cried out, but instead prayed for his tormentors. But on July of 1941, a prisoner from Fr. Kolbe’s barracks disappeared, (he was later found drowned in the camp latrine). As a punishment for this prisoner’s “escape”, ten other prisoners were randomly selected to be sent to the starvation bunker. One of the men who was selected for execution was Franciszek Gajowniczek. He cried out in anguish, “My poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?” Upon hearing his cry, Fr. Kolbe stepped forward and offered his life in exchange for the man who had a family. The commandant accepted his offer, and Fr. Kolbe was led, along with nine others, to the starvation cell, where they were left, cold and naked. If any of the men begged for food, they would be kicked hard in the stomach, falling back onto the hard cement floor. He would either die from hitting his head, or he would be shot. According to a Polish man assigned to work in Block 13, (Bruno Borgowiec), Fr. Kolbe bore up bravely. He did not beg or complain, but instead raised the spirits of the others. For two weeks he suffered starvation and deprivation, as all of his companions eventually perished, leaving him as the sole survivor. On August 14th, he was killed by an injection of carbolic acid…on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
As I read the account of St. Maximilian while sitting in my dad’s hospital room, it occurred to me that there are four ways to respond to evil, when we are faced with it:
- We can ease our conscience by “blaming the victim”. They did something to deserve it. It is their fault. Or maybe we tell ourselves, “It is for the best, at least they won’t have to suffer.”
- We can distract ourselves so that we don’t notice the suffering of others.
- We allow ourselves to feel the pain. We let ourselves “feel sorry” for the victim. (The verse from James 2 comes to mind: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
- Like St. Maximilian Kolbe, we see the evil…we allow ourselves to “feel” the evil…and then we ACT in whatever way we can…to do something to help the victim.
It is true that very few people will go to the extreme that St. Maximilian did…that is why he is recognized as a saint. But we can do something when we are in the situation of facing the evil of the killing of the vulnerable unborn child right in our own neighborhood…day after day…year after year.
40 Days for Life is a way to DO SOMETHING! We won’t be thrown into a starvation bunker for doing it. We may or may not be able to save a life…but we are called, as Christians, to stand up for those whose lives are unjustly taken away from them.
I am sorry for the length of this post, but I hope that Fr. Kolbe’s story will warn you not to be tempted to despair when facing the enormity of the evil of abortion, and thereby falling into one of the first three responses. I hope his story will inspire you to courage, so that you can respond in the fourth manner; by self sacrifice…by pouring yourself out for another. Even if it is just in a small way, such as going down town and praying on the sidewalk for an hour.
May God bless you.
-Nikki
SIDEWALK REPORTS
7:30-9 AM +++ Cathy, Peggy, and Mary
CATHY: There was a very busy start to the day. By 8:15 four women/couples had gone inside, three of them all at the same time. Later 1-2 more entered, including a mom with her daughter, saying “We are fine!”, while waving away any help we wanted to offer.
Mary B. came to help praying today. It can be very discouraging when no one even wants information or to talk. But we just have to trust that someone(s) is getting the message that all life is sacred and that there is help available no matter the circumstances.
We had a couple rants and finger, but more smiles and thank yous.
9-11 AM +++ Conrad and Elsie PLUS 11 AM- 1 PM +++ Elsie and Ed
ELSIE: It was a very bad & bloody morning at the death mill. Conrad had attached the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to a tree. All of us, born & preborn, desperately need her prayers & the Divine intervention of her Son, the hidden, preborn LORD of Guadalupe.
SO many victims went through those dreaded Death Doors. Tried to offer help & information but didn’t do it well. Later in the shift a couple exited, wouldn’t accept lit. Verbally shared with them the hopeful news of AbortionPillReversal.com, but the mother informed me, “It was surgical. It’s dead now. Happily.” Walked away with the father of her slain son or daughter. Please pray for all three of them — and for our “Culture” that “normalized” this callousness.
Soon after this disturbing encounter, our reinforcements arrived — all the way from Clarion County’s four (six?) Catholic churches. They were Desiree, Terry, and a lady whose name I regretably forget. The ladies set to work praying the Rosary for the babies and their misled parents.
Terry, a retired high school teacher, shared with me some of the inspired work he has done educating teens about the equal right to Life of all human beings, from conception until natural death. He and the ladies are also big supporters of the pregnancy help center in the Clarion area.
Speaking of pregnancy help centers, we all will have a big opportunity to lend them a hand on PALM SUNDAY (APRIL 13), when Abby Johnson speaks at the 40 DFL’ Closing Ceremony at Epiphany Church. A DIAPER DRIVE WILL BE HELD IN THE EPIPHANY PARKING LOT, & ALL ATTENDEES ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING BABY WIPES OR DIAPERS, especially SIZES 4, 5, 6, & 7. These will be delivered to local organizations that are listed on the Green Brochures & Yellow Cards that we hand out! Let’s help those groups, so they can help every mother who calls them!!! Please spread the word at your church that DIAPERS & WIPES ARE BADLY NEEDED!!!
1-3 PM +++ Judy, Chris, and Kevin
CHRIS: When I arrived, there were three prayer warriors getting ready to leave after their shift, all who made the long drive from Clarion- Terry and Desiree from St. Michael’s and Ann from St. Joseph’s. Brother Knights Kevin (Regina Coeli Parish) and Jackson (a first-timer from St. Aidan Parish) joined Judy, our Sidewalk Advocate. We prayed the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, Chaplets of Divine Mercy, and the Loreto Litanies. A brisk, cold day, but a good one, filled with prayers for the pre-born, their mothers, the abortionists, and the PP workers.
3-5 PM +++ Steve and Eileen
STEVE: A tad chilly today on the sidewalk, but good sunshine much of the time! Seemed to be a lot of staff at the mill today? Not many interactions, but Eileen did speak to a couple in a car parked curbside, and they drove away without going in. A young gal came out seemingly very happy, got into a vehicle, and gave Eileen the “digital salute” while sticking her tongue out. A mom with a baby in a carriage came by and stopped at the fetal models, and told Eileen she just found out she is about 6 weeks along… beautiful! Final comment about the sign with pictures of the children whose moms chose life. It gets a LOT of looks from passers-by- even those who are expressionless and try to look straight ahead steal a glance at it… I think it is very powerful! And thank God and Jeannie for the oasis that is Little Lamb!