Homily | August 14, 2026 | Holiness Is Built By A Thousand Small Yeses | (Episode 231)

We trace the turning point that shapes Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s life, from a mother’s heartbreaking question to a child’s bold choice before Mary. His final sacrifice at Auschwitz makes sense only as the fruit of daily fidelity, the same commitment Scripture calls us to live in ordinary moments. 
• a mother’s question that awakens a lifelong search for purpose 
• Mary’s two crowns and the choice of purity and martyrdom 
• building a mission that uses modern media to spread the gospel 
• trusting providence in Japan and the surprising protection of the monastery at Nagasaki 
• offering his life at Auschwitz as a revelation of long-formed holiness 
• covenant faithfulness in Ezekiel and Jesus’ call to lasting commitment 
• practical holiness through forgiveness, sacrifice, resisted temptation, and prayer when it feels dry 

Thank you for listening! Visit us at www.saintaugustinechurch.org

Transcript

A Mother’s Question

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There's a question that changed the course of Saint Maximilian Colby's life. The church celebrates his feast day today. But his mother had caught him misbehaving, and like so many mothers, she looked at him and said, Maximilian, what is going to become of you? It wasn't an angry question, it was a heartbreaking. Those words stayed with him.

Two Crowns And A Lifelong Yes

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A few days later, the young boy knelt before an image of our lady and prayed. Years later he described what happened. He said the Blessed Mother appeared to him holding two crowns. One was white, representing purity, the other was red, representing martyrdom. So she asked him, Which one do you choose? His answer was simple, I choose both. Everything else in his life flowed from that one decision.

Using Media For The Gospel

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He became a Franciscan. He founded the Militia Immaculate to win souls through Mary. He built one of the largest monasteries in the world just outside Warsaw. He used every modern means at that time, newspapers, magazines, even radio, to evangelize. Long before social media, Maximilian Colby was doing social media. Every tool can either spread darkness or spread the gospel. He wanted every invention placed at the service of

Providence In Japan And Beyond

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Christ. Then he was sent as a missionary to Japan, and against all advice he built his monastery. He built it on the side of a mountain that many people thought was the wrong location. Years later, when the atomic bomb destroyed much of Nagasaki, that very monastery was remarkably protected because of where it had been built. Providence had guided what others thought was a mistake. Eventually he returned to Poland. Then came the Nazis. World

Auschwitz And The Gifted Life

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War II. Then Auschwitz. We know what happened. A prisoner escaped, ten men were chosen to die, one of them carried out from cried out for his wife and children. Father Colby stepped forward. I'm a Catholic priest. I'll take his place. That single moment made him famous. But I would suggest it did not make him a saint. It revealed the saint he had already become. Martyrs are not made in one heroic moment. They are made by tens of thousands hidden acts of fidelity. You don't suddenly become courageous in Auschwitz. No, you become courageous by saying yes to God every single day, over and over again.

Fidelity In Scripture And Daily Life

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That's exactly what today's readings are about. In Ezekiel, God speaks of his covenant. Even after his people have been unfaithful, he says, I will remain, I will remember the covenant. God never forgets his promises. And in the gospel, Jesus speaks about the permanence of marriage and those who renounce marriage for the kingdom. What unites both readings is fidelity. Our culture often celebrates options. Jesus celebrates commitment. Love is proven not by intensity, love is proven by perseverance, being there, showing up. Marriage is a lifelong yes. The priesthood is a lifelong yes. Religious life is a lifelong yes. And our Christian life itself is this yes over and over every single day. Maximilian Colby never stopped saying yes. He said yes as a little boy before our lady. He said yes as a Franciscan. He said yes as a missionary. He said yes as a prisoner. And finally, he said yes inside of starvation bunker. That final yes was only possible because thousands and thousands of yeses had come before it. Perhaps that's the question for us today. Will we probably we will probably never be asked to die for Christ in a concentration camp. But every day we are asked to live for him. Every act of forgiveness, every hidden sacrifice, every difficult conversation, every temptation that we're resisting, every prayer when we don't feel like praying, every act of charity, these are the moments that prepare us for holiness.

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St.

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Maxime and Colby did not become a saint in one extraordinary day. He became a saint because he never stopped giving God his ordinary days. And perhaps that's where sanctity begins for every one of us. Not in some big dramatic decision, but in all the small yeses to Christ, again today and then again tomorrow, until that final day when our whole life has been about a yes. Our whole life becomes one act of love.

Saint Kolbe, Pray For Us

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Saint Maximilian Colby, pray for us.