# Day 11 – St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Great Circle of Being
*2022-10-19*

> Bill Young reflects on St. Maximilian Kolbe’s vision of creation’s movement toward and back to God, highlighting Mary’s perfect obedience and her role in helping us return to the Father.

## The Great Circle of Being

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, all of creation moves in a single, circular motion: from God, out into the world, and back to God. Aquinas calls this the “Great Circle of Being.” He writes that creation, issued from a primary principle, follows a circuit that returns all things to their proper end, the source from which they came. We are created by the Son and the Holy Spirit, and it is through them that we are drawn back to our ultimate destiny.

## St. Maximilian Kolbe’s Perspective

St. Maximilian Kolbe describes the same reality in his own language. He points to the everyday experience of departure and return—separation and reunion. This pattern mirrors the Blessed Trinity at work in the creatures. Everything that comes from God ultimately returns to God, a movement sometimes called the “Great Exit and Return.” For Kolbe, creation begins with God’s act of separation, proceeds through the fulfillment of each creature’s nature, and culminates in a return to the Creator.

Intellectual creatures, especially human beings, love God consciously. Through that love we draw ever nearer to Him, seeking our way back home.

## Mary, the Immaculate Conception, and Our Return

Among all creatures, Kolbe gives a special place to the Immaculate Conception. Mary, filled completely with God’s love and without any stain of sin, is united to the Holy Spirit as His spouse. Because she never departed from God’s will, she presents the most perfect image of what all creatures are called to become.

Her perfect conformity to the Holy Spirit helps us, poor sinners, to overcome the tragedy of sin. She leads us to do God’s will, to return to Him, and ultimately to become saints.

## Human Freedom and the Tragedy of Sin

Human beings differ from animals because we act with reason, will, and conscience—the image of God within us. We can know and love God freely. Yet we often misuse that freedom, choosing contrary to God’s will. When we sin gravely without true repentance, we hinder our return to the Father. This is the great tragedy of human life.

Fortunately, God sent His Son and the Holy Spirit to save us, drawing us back to the Father. Mary’s sinless life shows us how to cooperate with the Spirit and fulfill God’s will.

## Prayer for the Day

Come, Holy Spirit, living in Mary, renew the faith of the earth so that all creation may return to God. Amen.

*Mary’s perfect obedience points the way for us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and complete our journey back to God.*