Maximilian

During roll call one frozen day at Auschwitz, the prisoner priest, Maximilian, listened as the guards barked out the ID number of a hapless young man.  Prison officials singled him out in response to an infraction of prison rules committed by some unidentified prisoner.  They would teach the prisoners a lesson in strict obedience.  The young man was ordered to step forward forward for execution.

The priest stood near the youth and heard him gasp, 'I can't die now–I have a wife and children."  In that instant the priest made his decision.  "Let me die in his place," he called out.  "If you just want to make an example of someone, then make it of me, for I have no family that needs me."

The commandant appeared puzzled for a moment, them motioned with his head, Execute the padre.

Maximilian's death to save the young prisoner represents the deeper mystery of the story of the God who came down to suffer and die in our place that we might live eternally.  John 3:16

Would you like to respond to that love right now?

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