Two things strike me as we have traveled around Poland for the last couple of weeks. The history here goes back so far, over 1000 years and while it is such a beautiful country it is also a country whose history is filled with so much suffering. Even over the last century they endured such great suffering, yet the people in Poland seem to have  great faith and there are so many Saints. Maybe it is because of their suffering, their crosses, that they know that they need to draw on the grace of God especially through the sacraments. One example of this is Saint Maximillian Kolbe, who consecrated his life to the Blessed Mother and to the Church and then offered his life for another man condemned to death. The picture on the left is from my visit to the concentration camp in Auschwitz where he died in the starvation bunker. He died in the basement of the building on your right and now he lives Eternal life in the presence of God.  Through all his trials and suffering he kept his hope in the Lord and his devotion to the Blessed Mother.

As I contemplate this, I am reminded how I have come to look at the suffering in my own life as a gift because it draws me closer to the Lord and reminds me of my great need for God in my life. I know that it is only through my faith in the Lord and the grace of the sacraments that I am able to place my trust in Him and  have the hope of eternal life. We too can ask the Blessed Mother to protect us and to bring us closer to her Son. I pray for all of us to have the courage to do God’s will and to take up our crosses and follow Him.