St. Maximilian Kolbe

I thought I would try this out, seems to be what all those youths are doing these days. I finally figured out MySpace and I figured blogs would be a natural step from that. In all seriousness, I hope to add some thoughts that I have about life and the faith and practical ways to live it out. I chose "Love Without Limits" as the title to my blog in reference to St. Maximilian Kolbe.  Reading through his writings and letters to family and friends you will see that he will often pray that his love would have no limits. The Lord answered his prayers and worked through him even during his constant struggles with health. By the end of his life he had brought over 700 men to the monastery he started and had helped many reach a conversion through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.

I have a very strong devotion to St. Maximilian Kolbe and try as hard as I can to imitate his life. Whenever I examine my life and honestly ask if I have loved those I have interacted with, I am often faced with some harsh realities. Our lives need to be a constant surrender to love. It sounds cheesy and overstated, but this love that Kolbe desired was a love that embraced suffering and rejection. It was a love that was able to gaze upon another human being, no matter how obnoxious they were being, and not only meet them where they were at, but encourage them to strive for a deeper relationship with the Lord and the Blessed Mother.

I teach mostly sophomores in high school and there are so many different situations that come up throughout the day that I find myself losing patience and responding poorly or uncharitably. Sometimes I lose focus of the reason I wanted to teach in the first place. If I am not finding joy in the Gospel myself it is going to be hard for me to encourage someone else to find it.  This simple and constant prayer of Kolbe has always reminded me to trust in the grace of the Lord to get over my own selfish desires and vices. I hope the Lord blesses you with an intense love for Him and the people He puts in your life.