Our reflection this month centers on one of the saints the Catholic Church celebrates. His name is Stanislaw Kostka Starowieyski. Blessed Stanislaw was a decorated soldier in the Austrian Army during World War I, founder of the Polish Army in 1918, and after his military career went on to study agriculture and manage a large farm in Poland in 1921.
Successful in his work, he and his wife, Maria Theresa, were daily Communicants, and focused their energies on the less fortunate. He cared for orphans and the poor, supported the Marian Congregation, Catholic Action, studied Catholic Social doctrine and instituted better working conditions for agricultural workers. Blessed Stanislaw was made a papal chamberlain by Pope Pius XI. Then WWII broke out.
He was arrested by the Nazis and sent to Dachau for the crime of being a Catholic leader. On April 13, 1941, he was martyred while imprisoned in Dachau.
Confronting Evil
Last month, we visited Dachau during our trip to Germany. Stories detailing the inhumanity of Nazi guards towards prisoners brought tears to my eyes. We learned that along with men like Stanislaw over 2,000 Catholic priests were imprisoned there and over half of them were also executed. It is a chilling place to visit.
A memorial near the exit of the tour summed up what should be our takeaway from this place of evil; “To honor the dead and warn the living.”
Battling Evil
Today our own world has its own evils. It can seem overwhelming to us how to respond. But to despair is not a choice. Thankfully, we are not in Ukraine, Israel, or Sudan, where our day-to-day existence is threatened. But we live in a country where people are homeless, hunger is real, and babies are killed in the womb. We cannot turn away from this reality as many Christian Germans did during Nazi rule.
The first reading from the second letter of Peter reminds us, much like the Dachau memorial, that ignorance of what is evil is not acceptable: “Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled….” If we, as Catholics, armed with the Holy Spirit, do not battle those inhumanities in our communities, how can we answer Our Lord on the Day of Judgement when he asks us, “What did you do for the least of my brothers?”
Like Blessed Stanislaw, we need to serve others. If we see injustice, we need to speak out even when it is uncomfortable for us. Blessed Stanislaw did this because that is what Jesus did in His life. Let us pray that governments never come for our lives for what we believe as they did for Blessed Stanislaw…and as they did for Jesus.
