(d. May 6, 1942) These two men were priests executed by the Nazis in WWII and declared “Blessed” by St. John Paul II in 1999. Blessed Henryk was rector of the major seminary of Włocławek, Poland, and was executed after encouraging other prisoners with Psalm 23. Blessed Kazimierz was a Polish parish priest who also ministered to fellow prisoners and, after two years of forced labor and starvation, was deemed “no longer of any use.” They were both gassed, either at Dachau, Bavaria, Germany or the Hartheim “euthanasia” killing center near Linz, Austria.

It is difficult to imagine a more powerless scenario (Step 1) with greater insanity (Step 2) than a concentration camp. Comparisons to the holocaust are never the best analogies, but a feeling of hopelessness is what many experience in active addiction. These martyrs give witness to the commitment to faith and hope that goes beyond what we experience or understand that is necessary to authentically and fully turn our will and our lives over to God’s care (Step 3).

“If Christ suffered, we too, following his example, should accept sufferings” (Blessed Kazimierz).

Reflection by Brad Farmer