“I
therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the
calling to which you have been called”
(Eph 4:1).
Saint
Paul writes this in the Letter to the Ephesians. Today the same words could be
addressed to us, his fellow countrymen, by Bishop Michal Kozal, a prisoner in
the concentration camp at Dachau. Today is the liturgical memorial of this
faithful witness to Christ. The grace which God gave him “was not in vain” (cf.
1 Cor 15:10) and continues to
bear fruit today. Blessed Bishop Kozal exhorts us to behave in a manner worthy
of our human and Christian vocation, as sons and daughters of this land, the
same homeland of which he was a son. Saint Paul shows the greatness of this
vocation. We are members of the Body of Christ, the Church, which he instituted
and of which he is the Head. In this Church the Holy Spirit continually
distributes the gifts necessary for various services and tasks. These make up
the great richness of the Church and serve the good of all.
Blessed Michal Kozal, you were
beatified by St. John Paul II in 1987 for the faith you showed in the face of
great suffering. Please pray for us, that we might grow in our faith on this
day of your feast.
