The feast of Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, which is celebrated October 19th, drives home an important point: God comes first in our lives, and that our earthly lives can never be an absolute value within themselves, but only in God.
His martyrdom, which took place on that fateful October 19th in 1984 at the hands of the communist secret police, powerfully echoes the truth of Jesus’ words: I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do (Luke 12:4). Blessed Jerzy understood that only Jesus and His teaching remain forever. Fr Jerzy’s deep spiritual communion with Christ led him to go out of himself and be with those who stood at the periphery of Polish society, the workers. The times in which he lived were extremely harsh. Martial law was introduced in Poland on 13 December 1981, and because of this several supporters of the Solidarity movement ended up in jail. Nevertheless, Fr Popiełuszko was not deterred from accompanying them. On the contrary, his pastoral conscience brought him closer to them. Blessed Jerzy felt it was his duty to do so. In an unpublished interview Fr Jerzy said:
The work of a priest is in a way an extension of the work of Christ. A priest is taken from the people and ordained for the people to serve them. Hence the duty of a priest is to be with the people at any time, where people need him most, where they are most wronged, degraded and maltreated [ … ] I felt it was then that they needed me most, in those difficult times, in prison cells, praying for them, in the courtrooms where I went to hear the trials.
This inner conviction of God coming first made Fr Jerzy denounce evil and uncover it for everyone to see. For him this was part and parcel to truly serve God. In his sermon in March 1983 he said: To serve God is to seek a way to human hearts, to serve God is to speak out about evil as a sickness which should be brought to light so it can be cured. To serve God is to condemn evil in all its manifestations.
Putting God first for Fr Popiełuszko also meant solidarity of hearts. If God is the real liberation then solidarity of hearts is the actualization of putting him first, particularly in times of great turmoil. In his sermon of February 1983 Blessed Jerzy said:
Do we remember our brothers and sisters who were sentenced under martial law for defending the dignity of the workers? They were sentenced because they tried to remain faithful to their ideals and dreams, shared openly by millions of others in 1980. How important it is for them, but also for us, to feel that the solidarity of hearts still exists, that their problems are ours. How important is the knowledge that their families are cared for materially and spiritually; the knowledge that every day we include the innocently-imprisoned in our evening prayers, that we teach our children to pray for our country, for our ideals. Satan will strengthen his earthly kingdom in our country, unless we become stronger in God and His grace, unless we show care and love for those of our brothers who suffer innocently in prisons, and for their troubled families. There are places where the families of the imprisoned are cared for and respected. But there are also places where fear· is stronger than moral duty. Remember what Christ said: “Inasmuch as ye have done it ‘. unto one of the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 26:40).
A group of women prisoners wrote: “We want to go free, but not at any price; Not at the price of renouncing our ideals, not at the price of self-betrayal of those who put their trust in us.” Let us put the truth, like a light, on a candlestick, let us make life in truth shine out, if we do not want our conscience to putrefy [ … ] Let us not sell our ideals for a mess of pottage. Let us not sell .. our ideals by selling our brothers. It depends on our concern for. our innocently-imprisoned brothers, on our life in truth, how soon that time comes when we shall share our daily bread again in solidarity and love. At this time, when we need so much strength to regain and uphold our freedom, let us. pray to God to fill us with the power of his Spirit, to reawaken the spirit of true solidarity in our hearts.
In Blessed Jerzy’s path to sainthood putting God first meant loving him in the oppressed and persecuted. In that manner he grew in holiness because, like Jesus, he gave his life for his brothers and sisters in need. His closeness with Jesus in prayer led him to be more of service to others in need.
While commemorating this great martyr, courageous follower of Christ, faithful witness of the Gospel, focus upon the Cross of the Savior, venerator of Mary Immaculate, dedicated to God since childhood, raised in a pious family, zealous in his service at the Altar, great imitator of the saints, faithful to the call of vocation, advocate for human dignity, defender of the unborn, merciful to the suffering, sensitive to the plight of victims, good Shepherd of workers, teacher of conquering evil with good, promoter of valor and solidarity, defender of Gospel values, who warns against revenge, advocate for hopefulness, unjustly accused, cruelly tortured, faithful priest until the end, martyr for truth and freedom and intercessor of the causes of Church and nation let us pray to God:
Almighty, and eternal God, You in your infinite wisdom created Blessed Jerzy as a faithful witness to the Gospel of love, look at his martyred death in defending his faith and the dignity of man and his accountability for causes, let us live in true freedom and may good always overcome evil. Through Christ, our Lord, Amen.