Quote/s of the Day – 15 January – The Memorial of Bl Nikolaus Gross (1898-1945) Martyr
“If we do not risk our life today,
how do we then, want one day,
to justify ourselves
before God and our people?”
“…One must obey God more than men”.
If something is demanded of us
that goes against God or the Faith,
then, not only, may we but we must,
refuse obedience (towards men).”
“Sometimes, my heart becomes heavy and the task appears insoluble if I measure my own human imperfection and inadequacy against the greatness of the obligation and the weight of the responsibility.
If a generation must pay the highest price, death, for its short life, we look for the answer in ourselves in vain. We find it only in Him in whose hand we are safe in life and in death. We never know what problems are waiting to test the power and strength of our souls…. Man’s ways lie in obscurity.
But even darkness is not without light. Hope and faith, which always hasten ahead of us, already have a presentiment of the breaking of a new dawn. If we know, that the best thing in us, the soul, is immortal, then we also know, that we shall meet each other again”.
Bl Nikolaus Gross (1898-1945) Martyr
“With the clear insight that the Nazi ideology was incompatible with Christian faith, he courageously took up his pen to plead for the dignity of human beings. Nikolaus loved his wife and children very much. However, the inner bond with his own family never allowed him to pull back from confessing Christ and His Church. It was clear to him, “If we do not risk our life today, how then do we want to justify ourselves one day before God and our people?”. For this conviction he submitted to being hanged, so that heaven itself might be opened to him. In the Blessed Martyr Nikolaus Gross was accomplished what the prophet foretold “The just man will live on account of his faith” (Hb 1,4).
AnaStpaul 