Memorial Day
Written by Barb Spies, OFS, Director of Mission Services and Pastoral Care
Twelve years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Arlington National Cemetery. I was at a conference in Washington, D.C., and a friend of mine lived there and was willing to take me to the cemetery to visit notable grave sites, watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier, and pay my respects to those who served our nation. I have been to national cemeteries before. My dad is buried at a national cemetery in California. This location, however, takes one’s breath away with its immensity and beauty.
Memorial Day has always been an important holiday for me to take time to remember those men and women who died while serving in the US military. It hasn’t ever been just a day for barbeques and sales in my world. John 15:13 says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” These cemeteries are filled with those who have offered their lives for their friends, even seeing the people of our nation in that way.
We often hear the words of the Canadian poet John McCrae on this day:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I also love the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem Decoration Day:
Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest
On this Field of the Grounded Arms,
Where foes no more molest,
Nor sentry's shot alarms!
Ye have slept on the ground before,
And started to your feet
At the cannon's sudden roar,
Or the drum's redoubling beat.
But in this camp of Death
No sound your slumber breaks;
Here is no fevered breath,
No wound that bleeds and aches.
All is repose and peace,
Untrampled lies the sod;
The shouts of battle cease,
It is the Truce of God!
Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.
Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
When a flag is presented to the next of kin at a military funeral we hear, “On behalf of the President of the United States, [the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy or the United States Air Force] and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.” Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Blessed Angela: “Look at everything with the eyes of faith.”