31 May 2021
The first commemoration of those who died in war was held in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania in October 1864. That long ago first memorial ceremony was held in a cemetery near what is now the intersection of US 322 and PA 45, a few miles south of Penn State University which had been founded only nine years earlier.
It is unlikely that the three women who gathered others for that observance, one of whose son was killed and another whose father died in the civil war, foresaw that it would become a national holiday.
Many Americans of a certain age remember and perhaps use the old term: Decoration Day. My mom always referred to it that way even after it was officially renamed Memorial Day. It was, and should be, a time to visit graves and war memorials, to place flags and flowers on the graves of the war dead, to attend public commemorations of the sacrifice made by men and women whose lives were prematurely ended, and, at least in Catholic cemeteries, a time to place candles in memory of the men and women who died in the service of their country.
Memorial Day is a time to ask why? The question is not 'why does war happen?' War is a built-in feature of humans; the world will never be free of war any more than it will be free of sin. Rather, we ask why men and women voluntarily risk their lives to defend that which they, and we, hold sacred. It is a time to wonder what it was like--and is like--to stand at the induction center, an eighteen year-old high school graduate or a newly minted nurse, being sworn into the military, knowing that he or she might not return. Today is dedicated to the memory of those who didn't return. There are more reasons why men and women are willing to risk and lose their lives than there are men and women in the military. No matter the reason, the only response we can offer to those who lost their lives defending our country is gratitude, honor, and prayer.
Memorial Day should not be a day dedicated to automotive deals, clothing sales, cookouts, or that first weekend on the Cape or, for those of you from Pennsylvania, "Down da Shore." All those things have their place. However, it is critical that we keep our eyes and hearts fixed on the true meaning of, and reasons for, this day; to honor the memory of those who died protecting us.
And, as we pray for those men and women, we also pray for their families whose lives were upended and irrevocably changed by their deaths. The Gold Star mothers. The dads who never got to play catch with a son or daughter again. The many who were forced to make pilgrimages to foreign soil to visit the grave of a parent, a sibling, or a best friend buried there, and for those who never knew for sure, and will never know for sure, where a loved one's body is or if it was even buried.
Be it standing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Vietnam Memorial, or the memorial to the War dead in front of where Plymouth High School once stood, the only possible response is to remember, to thank, and to pray:
Requiem aeternam
dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceant eis.
Requiescant in pace.
"Eternal rest
grant unto them O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace."
Amen
+ Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
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