Homily for the Salesian Martyrs of Poland

Homily for the
Salesian Martyrs of Poland

June 12, 2024
1 Kings 18: 20-39
Salesian Missions, New Rochelle, N.Y.

In the 1st reading, the prophet Elijah challenged the people of Israel to choose between worshiping the god of the pagan Canaanites, Baal, or the Lord God of Israel.  The reading demonstrates the nothingness of Baal, who can’t answer the cries of his followers because he doesn’t exist.  The Lord, however, does answer Elijah.

In 1999 St. John Paul II beatified 108 Polish priests, religious, and lay people who chose to follow Christ rather than Hitler and the Nazi program.  Others have been beatified since; e.g., last year the entire Ulma family—parents, 6 youngsters, and a stillborn child—who were murdered by German police because they’d hidden 8 Jews.

Among the 108 beatified by John Paul were the 5 young men we Salesians honor today.  They were between 17 and 21 when the Gestapo arrested them in 1940 because they were assisting the young people of the Salesian youth center in Poznan with prayer, catechism, and recreation—all of which the German occupation had outlawed.  After almost 2 years in prison, they were executed in the German prison at Dresden.  They remained faithful to prayer and the sacraments, to Christ, until the end.

The prison yard where the 5 youths were executed in 1942.

Every day you and I also have the choice of following Christ in the choices we make:  to pray, to make sacrifices for our families, to be honest and truthful, to be kind and patient, to work diligently—here at Salesian Missions trying to be conscious that our work is on behalf of at-risk young people whom the Salesians serve in 134 countries around the world.  As Christians we don’t worship Baal, the false gods of wealth, comfort, power, or fame; we serve Christ by humbly serving our sisters and brothers.