02261994 SJPII address young Conventuals Maximilian Kolbe
On Saturday, February 26, 1994, Saint John Paul II received two hundred student clerics of the Order of Friars Minor Conventuals, who participated in a national congress organized by the "Militia of the Immaculate Conception", on the occasion of the first centenary of the birth of Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe Dear young brothers of Saint Maximilian Kolbe:
1. It is with great affection that I receive you today and give you my most cordial welcome. My greeting goes in particular to the Minister General of the Conventual Friars Minor, Father Lanfranco Serrini, to whom I thank the kind words he has just addressed to me, also on behalf of those responsible for the Militia of the Immaculate Conception, your formators and each one of you You are gathered here to remember the first centenary of the birth of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, martyr of charity and patron of this difficult century of ours. This anniversary is a reason for prayer, reflection and renewed commitment, especially now that we find ourselves on the eve of the year 2000.
The figure of Father Maximilian Maria Kolbe, who was born on January 8, 1894 in Zdunska Wola, Poland, shines for the great love with which he consecrated his existence to the Immaculate Conception and for the heroic dedication of his life to his brothers, a sacrifice that led to that terrible death in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He remains among us as a prophet and sign of new times, the times of the civilization of love.
Apostle of the Immaculate Conception
2. Already being a clergyman at the "Seraphicum" school, here in Rome, he wanted to share with his fellow students the radicality of his consecration to the Immaculate Consecration, exhorting them to be knights of the One who was given to us as the dawn of the Sun that saves, Christ. the Lord. He wanted to entrust them with the mission of "radiating - as he wrote - the Immaculate Conception in our environment, attracting other souls to her, so that the hearts of our neighbors may also open to her, and she may reign in the hearts of everyone, everywhere, without distinction of race, nationality or language, as well as in the hearts of all men living at all times, until the end of the world" (SK 1210, III, 475). Many followed him around the world, with the audacity of hope, in fidelity to their vocation, in the austerity of life, aware that - as he often repeated - "only love creates." But the optimism with which Father Kolbe approached all his activities never made him forget that life is where the struggle between grace and sin, fidelity and infidelity is fought (cf. Rom 7:14-25 ). And precisely when it seemed that evil had triumphed over him, in the horror of the extermination camp, the victory of Christ was fully manifested.
"Only love creates." Sin destroys.
The testimony of the martyrs
3. Father Maximilian Kolbe reaffirmed, with his brave testimony, the force of the new creation, of which Mary Immaculate is the anticipator and example, for being the predestined Mother of the Redeemer.
Our century has known many martyrs, who knew how to give their lives to reaffirm their faith in the God of life. One of the current tasks of the Church is, certainly, to collect the memory of these men and women, our brothers, who have taught us to open our lives wide to Christ to announce him to all (cf. Col 1, 23), in all corners of the earth, as your brother, Father Kolbe, did. From his blood a new youth was born in the Church: humanity needs this spring of hope today. When he wants to create a civilization that excludes God from its horizon, man produces horrendous crimes and terrible disasters. Every time men have wanted to build their city without the values that come from the "being of God" (cf. 1 Jn 4:6), they have ended up building walls and barriers between themselves.
Invoke Mary
4. Dear young people, you have been entrusted with the ever-current message that Saint Maximilian confirmed with the supreme sacrifice. «Every generation - he said - must add its own effort and its own fruits to those of previous generations... What will we add?... now the second page of our history opens: that is,... introduce the Immaculate in the hearts of men, so that she may build in them the throne of her Son, draw them to her knowledge and inflame them with love towards the most sacred Heart of Jesus" (SK 486, I, 894-895).
It is a dense program that involves a lifetime. It is entrusted to your energies and your effort. Know how to love the Immaculate, because she leads you to her Son. Through it, and with its help, you will be able to overcome the inevitable difficulties that you will encounter on your path. With it you will be able to deposit in the heart of every person you meet the seed of Christ, the center and end of all life. Invoke her, therefore, with confidence and tenderness, so that, like Saint Maximilian, you too can be true witnesses of the love that God has for each man.
Cordially offering you the wish, so common among you, for Peace and Good, I gladly bless you all.
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