Today is Memorial Day; it is an opportunity for us to pay honor to all the men and women who died while serving the country, especially for those who died in battle. We fly the flag half-staff to give us all a pause, a moment of remembrance, so that we do not take for granted the gift of our civil liberties for they were won with a price.
This day finds its roots in the action of liberated slaves; after the civil war they removed the body of union soldiers from a mass grave and gave them each individual graves. Then, the following May, they returned to decorate the graves with flowers out of honor and respect and gratitude.
To die for one's country is a great sacrifice; it is to be honored and respected.
Jesus in today's gospel ask us to do the same for Him; Each time we gather at the Altar and celebrate the Eucharist we enter in to a Memorial Service in which, we, the liberated slaves, gratefully re commit ourselves to following the one who set us free in renewing the covenant and seek the strength to give it all, so that we lack nothing and thus follow after Him.
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