As I reflect on today’s gospel, my thoughts go all over the place. In the beginning of the reading, Jesus predicts His arrest, death, and resurrection. The reading then goes into an encounter with a tax collector. Peter is approached about whether Jesus is paying the temple tax. Next thing I know, Peter is directed to go fishing and catches a fish that has a coin in it’ mouth that is to be given to the tax collector. What is the lesson here? After much thinking, I have determined that this is another example of the need to trust in Jesus. He will provide whatever we need. Why is it so difficult to trust fully in Jesus? This is so challenging for so many even though there are examples of Jesus’ unwavering care for us.

If you have read my reflections before, you may remember that I have a love for the saints. I honestly believe the saints are people among us, past and future, who serve as examples of Jesus’ unconditional love for each of us…no matter what. There are plenty of saints who struggled in their relationship with Jesus—how human is that?

Today we remember St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe  He is a wonderful example of one who trusted in Jesus, often through the intercession of Mary. St. Maximillian is a new saint. He was born in 1994 and was canonized in 1982. As a Franciscan friar, he founded the Immaculate movement based on the notion that the fastest easiest way of becoming like Jesus was through the grace of Mary. Most who are familiar with St. Maximilian know of his arrest by the Nazis and time spent in a concentration camp. He volunteered to take the place of another prisoner (a husband and father) who was to be sent to the starvation bunker. While in the concentration camp he made it his mission to show through word and action that there is a God—an incredible task during a genocide!

On the eve of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 14, 1941, Fr. Maximilian’s time in the starvation ended when he died after an injection of carbolic acid. What a testament to his devotion to our blessed Mother! I do not believe this was a coincidence.

St. Maximilian is a wonderful example of faith and trust in our Lord. I can only imagine the peace he brought to his fellow prisoners in the concentration camp.

Pope John Paul II proclaimed him the “Patron Saint of our Difficult Age.”  The challenge is for us to find those saints among us—they are there— and they serve as incredible models of faith and trust.