FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. Upon this one single doctrine of our Christian religion, the entire 2,000 year old edifice of the Catholic Church is built. If Jesus is still dead, then St. Paul is absolutely correct: “ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain.” (Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:14). We should all go home. However, we proclaim the tomb is empty! He lives, just as our Lord promised us he would. That means we are no longer enslaved to death and sin. This Sunday, now known as Divine Mercy Sunday, we encounter the unfathomable greatness of God. There is no sin so heinous, so foul, for God to turn his face away from us.
The little known story of Rudolf Höss proves it. He was born into a devout Catholic family in the year 1900. His father, being a former military officer, raised him with strict moral principles and discipline. At one point he was even going to become a priest until he had a falling out with his local pastor. Somehow, he felt this priest had betrayed his trust. Whatever happened, he grew bitter towards the faith he once loved. Around the same time, a sweeping political movement was gaining momentum in Germany. A fiery politician held these huge rallies, where thousands gathered to hear this man speak about the glory of the German people. He attended one of these rallies in Munich and became absolutely enthralled by this politician – his name was Adolf Hitler. After that speech, he renounced his Catholic faith and joined the Nazi Party.
Once in the military, he was recognized as someone with great potential and moved up the ranks. From 1940-1943 he was assigned to Auschwitz, the most important concentration camp in the Nazi prison system. It was his gruesome genius to implement the gas chambers in order to make the execution of the Jews more “efficient”. When the war was over, he would eventually be captured and sent to Nuremberg to stand trial for his actions. It was discovered that this single man was responsible for the deaths of 3 million. After his conviction, he is sent back to Poland (where Auschwitz was located) to face capital punishment. He said in his autobiography that this terrified him. He was afraid that the Polish people would torture him upon his return as revenge for what he did. Not so. In fact he said in the Polish prison, “I have experienced for the first time what human kindness is. Despite all that has happened I have experienced humane treatment which I could have never expected and which has deeply shamed me.” He acknowledges what he has done and his heart begins to soften.
As he is sitting in his jail cell awaiting his execution, he hears in the distance the ringing of a church bell. He recognizes the sound from his happy memories as a child. Immediately asks his guards to send for a priest to hear his confession. But sadly, there is no priest nearby that can speak German. However, he remembers the one German speaking priest he met years before in Auschwitz, who was one of the few lives he spared – a priest by the name of Fr. Vladislav Lon. Amazingly, he happens to be just a short drive away. Fr. Vladislav comes and hears his confession; he renews again his baptismal promises that he had rejected when he joined the Nazi Party. The next day the priest returns and brings him Holy Communion. According to the testimony of the prison guards, after Höss receives Communion, he falls to the ground in tears. This, my brothers and sisters, is the Divine Mercy we have before us. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything.
A Servant of Jesus Christ,
Fr. Brian J. Soliven
