The Greatest

When the disciples approached Jesus with the question, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?" (Mt 18:1), they must have been surprised when Jesus called to a child and placed it before them and answered that the person who humbles himself like a little child is the greatest. Children are dependent, trusting, forgiving, and always seem to emerge from a "crisis" with joy and eagerness for the next event.
This "purity of heart", the open-mindedness, this willingness to forget and move ahead was evident in the decision of Maximilian Kolbe, whose memorial we celebrate today,  to offer his life in place of a fellow prisoner  in Aucshwitz. His choice "was like a powerful shaft of light in the darkness of the camp giving the others hope, new life and strength", according to survivor Jerzy Bielecki. Our choices, our gifts may not be as dramatic, but even the smallest gesture of pure, innocence and kindness can make the sun shine on a cloudy day and place us among those childlike Greatests.
Bro. Rene.