Under ordinary situations, men act ordinarily. Heroic acts will emerge only in difficult times. I think this is what Wen Tian Xiang 文天祥 means in his verse 「時窮節乃現，一一垂單青。」 and it is an apt description of the heroic life of Fr. Kolbe, a Franciscan priest.
Fr. Maximilian Mary Kolbe (1894-1941) was Polish. He was one of the many victims in the notorious Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp in Poland. When one prisoner disappeared, the deputy camp commander randomly chose 10 prisoners to be executed to deter further escape attempts. When one of the prisoners cried out for his own family, Fr. Kolbe volunteered to replace him. All 10 were starved to death. After three weeks, the Nazi murdered Fr. Kolbe with a poisonous injection. Pope Paul VI beatified him in 1971. On October 10, 1982, the late Polish Pope John Paul II canonized him and declared him a martyr of charity and before that, had already mentioned him as a patron saint of our difficult times. May God bless us to defy evil with charity, to choose Him over other vanities. Amen.
Today, we read the last chapter of Joshua. The Israelites had finished their invasion of Canaan. Obviously, they did not conquer all the local peoples. They could not exterminate, nor could they drive out every living soul in the whole region. They had to live with the remaining inhabitants. Then, there existed inevitably the danger of syncretism, of assimilating the local deities into their religious life. Before his death, Joshua made clear his position before the people. He did not force the Israelites to believe in God. He gave them a chance to choose and follow their choices.
Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God (Joshua 24:1).
Then, he summarized the history of Israel beginning with Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor, beyond the Euphrates. At that time, they did not know Yahweh. They served other gods (Joshua 24:2). The Exodus was a time of independence fighting and empire building. It was also a time of relationship mending. Throughout this time after the death of Moses, Joshua was the leader and he had gained first-hand experience that God fought the battles on their behalf. Joshua made it clear that the Israelites did not occupy this piece of land through their own merits. God gave them this piece of land on which they had not laboured.
And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.
I gave you a land on which you had not laboured, and cities which you had not built, and you dwell therein; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant (Joshua 24:12-13).
Now that they had settled down in Canaan, there were no more battles to fight, no more threats of survival. They had the spare time to turn their attention to theological problems.
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:14-15)
After the Exodus experience, the logical conclusion was to serve Yahweh. Yet, Joshua still allowed the Israelites the choice. As for himself, he had chosen to serve Yahweh. As a matter of fact, God had chosen him the successor of Moses. Joshua did not choose God. God had chosen him. Once chosen, we should work our potential to as much the maximum as possible.
Joshua died 110 years old (Joshua 24:29). He did not live a full age of 120 like Moses did. In the New Testament, Joshua was called Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth lived only to 33. Fr. Kolbe died at 47. The length of age doesn't matter. Their choices, or rather, God's choices matter.
Dear Lord, let my life be a good enough melody. If You wish, let me be Your servant, be a melodic hymn to sing You praises. Amen.
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