Faith

“I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:13-14

Nothing tests a person’s faith more than finding out your child has a terminal illness.  We pray daily that the Lord will help us keep Max as healthy as possible, provide us the strength to endure, and leave him with us as long as possible.  However, there are many days that we question God as to why -  why us, why anyone?  I would like to say that we trust God totally with this situation, but it is a daily struggle.  Spiritual warfare is torrential when the ability to question God is so easy, so I pray for the grace of God to surround us at all times. I take solace in that our time on earth is only a blip on the eternal radar and that Max will be whole in heaven.  I believe that all things work for the good of Christ and this to will bear fruit.  While I would love to know what good is going to come of this situation I am not sure that I will ever know during my time on earth.  Being in this situation gives me a whole new perspective on the Virgin Mary.  I have never been able to so fully identify with Mary, than I have in the past year.  To watch your child suffer and die is the worst kind of pain a parent can ever experience.  I am grateful for the guidance and example set by the Blessed Mother.  Truly, what a gift she was and is to mothers everywhere! 

We always welcome and appreciate prayers!  Thank you for taking the time to remember Max, our family and others fighting this disease.

 

Max’s namesake:

 

Our son was named after St. Maximilian Kolbe.  We felt that this name was indicative of the kind of person we wanted our son to emulate. 

Maximilian was born in 1894 and became a Fransican priest.  As a young adult he contracted tuberculosis.  He managed to recover, but remained frail for the rest of his life.  Maximilian was a man of ambition and constant compassion.  Maximilian held a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother.  He founded the Immaculata Movement for Our Lady, even before becoming a priest.  This community became the largest in the world with approximately 800 men.  The movement was spead through the use of a magazine created by Maximilian entitled “The Knight of the Immaculata.”  Maximilian provided shelter for refugees, including 2,000 Jews, from Greater Poland during the WWII.  He was also not afraid to speak the truth about the Nazis on his amateur radio show.  In February of 1941 Max was arrested by the German Gestapo and imprisoned, eventually he was transferred to Aushwitz.  In July of that year, a man from Kolbe’s barracks disappeared.  The SS Officer serving as deputy camp commander, Karl Fritzsch, chose 10 men from the same barracks for death by starvation in Block 13 (this block was notorious for torture).  One of the men selected, Franciszek Gajowniczek, pleaded for mercy and Maximilian volunteered to take his place.  During their time in Block 13 he led the men in songs and prayer.  After three weeks of dehydration and starvation Kolbe and three others remained alive.  He did not whine, nor murmur. He encouraged others that they would soon be with Mary in heaven. And each time the guards checked on him he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered, while the others laid, moaning and complaining, on the ground around him. Finally he was murdered with an injection of carbolic acid.  Some who were present at the injection say that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. He died soon after. His remains were cremated on the Assumption of Mary.  Miraculously, the Gajowniczek, the man Maximilian helped spare that day survived his time in Aushowitz and was able to attend St. Maximilian’s canonization with his children and grandchildren. 

Comments

[Lisa Doughty]

Traci - this is excellent!! You should run for President!!

Folks you should read what this young woman has to say -she hit the nail on the head!!