Memorial Day (2020)
Memorial Day (2020)
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our places; 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 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.
John McCrae
Reflection Questions:
1. What is the torch that McCrae speaks of? If it represents the torch of freedom, what freedom to I hold most dear?
2. McCrae wrote this poem after he attended the funeral of a fellow soldier. We have a lot of new veterans form the wars of the last twenty years. How do should we honor them? Give them a medal? See to their medical needs? Honor the fallen?
Dear Parishioners,
When I read the poem In Flanders Fields I think of my grandfather who was born in Belgium, immigrated to the United States and fought in World War I for the United States military. If he would have been killed in battle or by the flu pandemic that was happening at that time I would not be here today.
I always assumed my Grandfather was a citizen when he joined the Army, but he was not. He did not become a citizen of the United States until the late 1930’s and this was because an acquaintance took him to Chicago and helped him study for his citizenship test.
I guess that’s why I am sympathetic to migrants today who join the United States military, even though they are not citizens, and then have a hard time receiving their civil rights. We remember our veterans living and dead today. We ask that they might enjoy all the freedoms they fought for and some cases died for.
May our Lady and all the angels and saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark