Overcome evil with good

By Chris Sparks

This week marked two milestones. Eighty years ago, on Jan. 27, 1945, Allied troops entered the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland, and liberated the prisoners. The notorious death camp is the place that made martyrs of the great St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (the former Edith Stein), and countless others.

And 98 years ago, on Jan. 27, 1927, Blessed George Matulaitis, the Renovator of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, died. Members of his religious congregation included the Marian Martyrs of Rosica, the blesseds Fr. George Kaszyra, MIC, and Fr. Anthony Leszczewicz, MIC, more victims with their parishioners of the Nazis.

Although Bl. George died 18 years before the liberation of Auschwitz, his episcopal motto, “Overcome evil with good,” resonates.

Christ Our Light
The evil of Auschwitz poses a question and an answer; a terrible mystery, and a light to see in the darkness of the mystery.

Here is the question of evil and suffering, the mystery of evil and suffering in a world created and sustained by a good, all-powerful God. Here is the only credible answer: the martyrs, the blesseds, the saints, little icons of the One whose presence is the full answer. 
Jesus is present in every innocent victim of evil, every suffering soul enduring the ills and privations of the valley of the shadow of death, this vale of tears. “And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Mt 25:40).

Jesus is, of course, the brother of all Christians. But He is also the brother of all Jewish people by blood. He is also the brother of all human beings by common descent from our father Adam, and our common mother, Eve. Every single human being enduring evil and suffering, then, is in a particular way a sign of the presence of Jesus, something Jesus made plain to St. Faustina:

Jesus came to the main entrance today, under the guise of a poor young man. This young man, emaciated, barefoot and bareheaded, and with his clothes in tatters, was frozen because the day was cold and rainy. He asked for something hot to eat. So I went to the kitchen, but found nothing there for the poor. But, after searching around for some time, I succeeded in finding some soup, which I reheated and into which I crumbled some bread, and I gave it to the poor young man, who ate it. As I was taking the bowl from him, he gave me to know that He was the Lord of heaven and earth. When I saw Him as He was, He vanished from my sight. When I went back in and reflected on what had happened at the gate, I heard these words in my soul: My daughter, the blessings of the poor who bless Me as they leave this gate have reached My ears. And your compassion, within the bounds of obedience, has pleased Me, and this is why I came down from My throne — to taste the fruits of your mercy.

O my Jesus, now everything is clear to me, and I understand all that has just happened. I somehow felt and asked myself what sort of a poor man is this who radiates such modesty. From that moment on, there was stirred up in my heart an even purer love toward the poor and the needy. Oh, how happy I am that my superiors have given me such a task! I understand that mercy is manifold; one can do good always and everywhere and at all times. An ardent love of God sees all around itself constant opportunities to share itself through deed, word and prayer. Now I understand the words which You spoke to me, O Lord, some time ago (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1312-1313).

‘If you want peace, work for justice’
Blessed George knew that all those who suffer evil and injustice are our brethren. He was a fervent student and promoter of Catholic social teaching, a teaching summed up for us in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1928-1948), and in the Compendium Of The Social Doctrine Of The Church. His personal motto, “Overcome evil with good,” (Rom 12:21), offers us a pathway toward following in the footsteps of Christ to help ensure that the evils of Auschwitz and Nazism (evils condemned in Pius XI’s prophetic papal encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge [“With Burning Anxiety” ] are not repeated.

So let us honor the memory of the martyrs of Auschwitz by imitating Bl. George and study Catholic social teaching, as well as the history of our Catholic saints, blesseds, and martyrs. Let us remember those who overcame evil with good in imitation of Christ, and set to work to do the same in our own days with prayer, Sacraments, Scripture, and works of mercy.

Blessed George Matulaitis, pray for us!
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us!

And for all those killed at Auschwitz and in the Holocaust, let us plan to obtain Jubilee indulgences, and to pray:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God,
rest in peace. Amen.

Photo by Fadjar Djulizar on Unsplash.
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