Maximilian Kolbe & Spiritual Blindness: Choosing Light in Darkness

What if the real blindness in your life isn’t physical, but spiritual?

In this episode of Rebel Saints, we reflect on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday, Year A) and the powerful Gospel of the man born blind (John 9:1–41). Jesus declares, “I am the light of the world,” and reveals that true sight comes not just from seeing—but from encountering Him.

We also dive into the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, whose radical sacrifice in Auschwitz became a living witness to Christ’s light shining in the darkest place imaginable.

This episode is for anyone who feels stuck, searching, or spiritually blind—and is ready to step into the light.

References & Further Reading

• Sacred Scripture: John 9:1-41; 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Ephesians 5:8-14; Psalm 23 (NABRE)
• Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 1243 (Baptism as enlightenment); CCC 2447 (Works of mercy)
• Saint Maximilian Kolbe: Vatican canonization biography (vatican.va); eyewitness accounts from Franciszek Gajowniczek and Bruno Borgowiec (Church-approved sources)
• Liturgical: USCCB readings for March 15, 2026 (usccb.org)

Support the Journey: Help other restless hearts find us!

Follow: Hit the "+" or "Follow" button 

Review: If you enjoyed this show, please leave a review. It’s the best way to help us grow.

Connect with Rebel Saints:

• Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebelsaintspodcast
• Reflections: https://substack.com/@rebelsaints
• Instagram: @rebelsaintspodcast
• TikTok: @RebelSaintsPodcast
• For exclusive content find us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/RebelSaintsPodcast
• Write us: rebelsaintspodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

00:00:12 : Welcome restless hearts. Whether you're tuning in from the middle of a busy week or stealing a quiet moment in the middle of lent. I am so glad you're here. My name is Nicole. This is the Rebel Saints podcast. And today we're going to be talking about the fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, the one day in the middle of our penitential season when the church invites us to rejoice, our priests wear rose vestments to remind us that Easter is coming. That light is already breaking in. So let's look at the readings that the church gives us this week, because they all speak the same wonderful truth.

00:00:55: God is not content to leave us in darkness. In the first reading from one Samuel, the Lord sent the prophet to anoint a king. Samuel looks at the tall, impressive sons of Jesse and assumes one of them must be God's choice. But the Lord corrects him. Not as man sees. Does God see? Because man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart. God chooses the overlooked shepherd boy, David. The lesson is clear true sight comes from the heart, not from outward appearances. Our responsorial Psalm is the beloved Psalm twenty three. The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I shall want. Even when we walk through the dark valley, we fear no evil because the shepherd is at our side. Then Saint Paul, in the second reading from Ephesians, gets right to the point you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. He even quotes what sounds like an early Christian hymn awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. That's the whole movement of lent waking up, rising, letting Christ shine on us. And then the gospel. It's John chapter nine, verses one through forty one. It's the healing of the man who was born blind. It's one of the longest, um, and probably most powerful stories in the gospel. We read it every year in cycle A on this Sunday, because it's about light and faith and true sight. So you know, Jesus and the disciples, they're walking along and Jesus sees the man blind from birth. The disciples immediately ask, who sinned, this man or his parents? And Jesus answers, neither he nor his parents sinned. It is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. Then he does something that is so freaking gangster. He spits on the ground and makes Clay with the saliva, smears it on the man's eyes, and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent. The man obeys and comes back, being able to see he's got full, complete sight. What follows is a courtroom drama full of irony. The neighbors can't believe it. The Pharisees interrogate him, then his parents, then him again. The once blind man keeps getting clearer and clearer in his testimony. At first he says, the man called Jesus. Then he is a prophet. Finally, when Jesus finds him again and asks, do you believe in the Son of Man? The man answers, Lord, I do believe. And he worships Jesus. Meanwhile, the Pharisees who think they see everything so clearly end up proving Jesus's final words true. I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see, might see. And those who do see might become blind. Meanwhile, the Pharisees, who think they see everything so clearly end up proving Jesus's final words true. I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind. Their spiritual blindness is worse than the man's physical blindness ever was. And friends, this gospel. It's not just about a miracle that happened, you know, two thousand years ago. It's about us. Jesus is still the light of the world. He still wants to open our eyes that have been closed by sin, by doubt, by fear, by lies, by our culture. And that brings me to the rebel saint. I really want us to sit with today. And that is Saint Maximilian Kolbe.

00:05:25: Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan priest who lived and died in what was one of the most darkest places to have ever existed on our planet, and that is the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz. Prior to being captured and sent to the camp, had founded a massive publishing apostolate dedicated to to the Immaculate Virgin, and he had sheltered thousands of refugees and he printed the truth. So when the Nazis took over Poland, he eventually was arrested and sent to the camp. In May of nineteen forty one, he was branded prisoner number one six six seven zero. Despite the awful conditions of Auschwitz, brutal labor, starvation, constant cruelty, people who knew him there report that Father Kolbe retained a deep faith, remarkable equanimity and dignity in the face of appalling treatment. On June fifteenth, he was even able to send a letter to his mother. Dear mama, at the end of the month of May, I was transferred to the camp of Auschwitz. Everything is well in my regard. Be tranquil about me and about my health, because the good God is everywhere and provides for everything with love. It would be well that you do not write to me until you have received other news from me, because I do not know how long I will stay here. Cordial greetings and kisses. Affectionately. Raymond and Raymond was his baptismal name. On one occasion a guard forced him to carry the heaviest planks until he collapsed under the weight. Then the guard beat him savagely and left him for dead in the mud. But fellow prisoners, secretly carried him to the camp prison, where he was able to recover. Even there, witnesses say he remained selfless, often sharing his meager rations with others who were hungrier. In late July nineteen forty one, three prisoners appeared to have escaped. As punishment, the deputy commander selected ten men at random to be starved to death in an underground bunker. When one of them, Franciszek, Gajowniczek a husband and father, heard his name called, he cried out in anguish, my wife, my children. Without hesitation, Father Kolbe stepped forward. He removed his cap and stood before the commandant. I am a Catholic priest from Poland. I have no wife or children. I wish to take his place. The Nazi commander, surprised, asked, what does this Polish pig want? But Colby pointed to Gajowniczek and repeated his offer. Stunned.

00:08:54: The commander accepted the exchange and Gajowniczek later testified. I could only thank him with my eyes. I was stunned and could hardly grasp what was going on. The immensity of it I, the condemned man to live and someone else willingly and voluntarily offers his life for me, a stranger. Is this some dream? I was put back into my place without having had time to say anything to Maximillian Colby. I was saved, and I owe to him the fact that I could tell you. This news spread quickly throughout the camp. It was the first and last time such an incident happened in the history of Auschwitz. Gajowniczek would miraculously survive the camp and later be present at Colby's canonization in nineteen eighty two. The ten men, now including Colby, were led to the underground bunker in block eleven. This was a dark, windowless cell meant for slow death by starvation and dehydration. Yet even there, in that place of utter despair, Colby turned horror into something sacred. Witnesses, including Bruno Borgowiec, a Polish prisoner assigned to serve the bunker, reported that the cell echoed with prayers and hymns to Mary The condemned men sang canticles. Colby led them in devotion. When guards inspected, they saw most men collapse on the floor. Borgowiec would later give this testimony. The ten condemned to death went through terrible days. From the underground cell there continually arose the echo of prayers and canticles at every inspection, when almost all the others were now lying on the floor. Father Colby was seen kneeling or standing in the center as he looked cheerfully in the face of the SS men. Father Colby never asked for anything, and did not complain. Rather He encouraged the others. One of the SS guards remarked, this priest is a really great man. We have never seen anyone like him. After two weeks, nearly all had died from thirst and starvation because the cell was needed for others. The guards wanting it emptied gave the remaining prisoners, including Colby, a lethal injection of carbolic acid. On August fourteen, nineteen forty one, which is the vigil of the assumption. Those present say he calmly accepted it, lifting his arm for the needle. He was cremated the next day on the feast of the Assumption of Mary. The deed and courage of Maximilian Kolbe spread among the Auschwitz prisoners, offering a rare glimpse of light and human dignity amid extreme cruelty. After the war, his reputation grew and he became a symbol of sacrificial love. In nineteen eighty two, Saint Pope John Paul II canonized him as a martyr of charity. This is where the gospel and the saint meet so wonderfully, Jesus said, while I am in the world. I am the light of the world in the blackest darkness of Auschwitz. Maximilian Kolbe, let that light shine through him.

00:12:41: He saw really saw with eyes of faith. He saw Christ in the condemned man who had a wife and children. He saw the dignity of every soul made in God's image, even when the Nazis tried to strip it away. And because he saw, he was able to love without limits. Leading prayer in a death cell. Encouraging the dying. Facing execution with peace. The man born blind gradually came to recognize Jesus as Lord. Colby had already recognized him long before the camp. That recognition gave him the courage to lay down his life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that baptism is called enlightenment, and that's catechism twelve forty three. The white garment and the candle symbolize that Christ has enlightened the neophyte. This gospel is traditionally read during the scrutinies for those preparing for baptism, precisely because it shows what happens when Christ opens our eyes. Saint Maximilian Kolbe lived that enlightenment to the end. He had been washed in the waters of baptism and confirmation. He had been fed by the Eucharist. And when the moment came, the light he had received became a blazing torch for others restless hearts. This is our calling too. This is the invitation of lent. Lent is not simply about giving things up. It's about allowing Christ to heal our vision. Thankfully, we're not in Auschwitz, but we do live in a world that is often spiritually blind, blind to the dignity of the unborn, blind to the immigrant, blind to the elderly, blind to the truth about who we are.

00:14:27: We ourselves can be blind to our own sins, our own need for conversion. Jesus wants to do for us what he did for the man born blind. He wants to smear the clay of humility on her eyes. Send us to wash in the pool of the sacraments and make us see. And once we see, he wants us to live as children of light. The way Saint Maximilian did. Sacrificing, loving, shining even when it costs Everything. This Laetare Sunday. Let's rejoice. Light is winning. The shepherd who looks at the heart is leading us. Christ is shining on us. And that same power that raised David from shepherd to king, that opened the eyes of a man born blind and that sustained Saint Maximilian Kolbe in the starvation bunker is at work in us right now. Your challenge. My challenge this week is simply to take a moment to pray a very simple prayer. Lord, open my eyes. Open my eyes to the ways you are working in my life. Open my eyes to the people who need compassion. Open my eyes to the truth I might be avoiding. Because the greatest miracle in the Christian life is not simply physical healing. The greatest miracle is seeing Christ clearly. And once you truly see him, everything changes. Let's ask the Lord today. Where am I still blind? Where do I need your light? And once you open my eyes. Make me a light for someone else. Just like your servant Maximilian. Amen. And before we go, if you have a minute, leaving a review or hitting follow really does help this podcast reach more people who need to hear these stories of faith and courage too. You can find me on Instagram at Rebel Saints podcast. All the other links, including our Facebook group, are right there in the show notes. And if you have any topics you'd like you think I should cover or questions I can try to help answer for you. Or if you want to share your own story, I genuinely would love to hear from you. Just drop me an email at podcast at gmail.com. Until next time, I'm Nicole and this is Rebel Saints. Keep letting that light shine.