Wednesday in the
Octave of Corpus Christi
D-Day MEMORIAL
Luke,
Chapter 1, verse 30:
30
Then the angel
said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Mary
had no fear of the world or man, yet, when the angel appeared she was immersed
in holy fear. Let us follow Mary’s example and bravely face the day saying YES
to God. Speaking of brave; today is the D-Day memorial.
D-Day Memorial
The
men who took the beach at D-Day were afraid because they too knew what may
happen to them, yet too, they were succored by our Lord and our nation’s
prayers.
This
is the prayer originally entitled "Let Our Hearts Be Stout" written
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Allied troops were invading
German-occupied Europe during World War II. The prayer was read to the Nation
on radio on the evening of D-Day, June 6, 1944, while American, British and
Canadian troops were fighting to establish five beach heads on the coast of
Normandy in northern France.
The
previous night, June 5th, the President had also been on the radio to announce
that Allied troops had entered Rome. The spectacular news that Rome had been
liberated was quickly superceded by news of the gigantic D-Day invasion which
began at 6:30 a.m. on June 6th. By midnight, about 57,000 American and 75,000 British
and Canadian soldiers had made it ashore, amid losses that included 2,500
killed and 8,500 wounded.
My Fellow Americans:
Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that
moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the
Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus
far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this
day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our
religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their
arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be
long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success
may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we
know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will
triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day,
without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise
and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of
peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest.
They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and
goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their
return to the haven of home.
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and
receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children,
wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers
are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed
faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have urged that I call the nation into a
single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is
great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As
we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer
be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily
tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material
support of our armed forces.
And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long
travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons
wheresoever they may be.
And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee;
faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not
the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary
events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in
our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy
forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial
arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations
into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the
schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in
freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944
The power of
Diligence
In John
McCain’s book Character is Destiny[1] he
perceived the character traits exemplified by Winston Churchill who best
displays the characteristic of DILIGENCE. Churchill persevered through every
trial and misfortune to alert his countrymen to the approaching danger of Nazi
Germany, and to save them when they ignored his warning.
We must
be just as diligent in our pursuit to do the will of God in our lives.
Churchill’s
most famous quote is,
“Never
give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing great or small,
large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
Winston
never did give in he led his country at the age of 67 living a life of many
failures to become the prime minister of England during their greatest need.
McCain
says of Churchill:
This extraordinarily diligent man, who
would not give in to many bitter trials that would have forced most of us to
surrender to a cruel and unrelenting fate, who had fought, been beaten, and
risen again so many times to take his place among the great democratic leaders
of world history, would, by the power of his speech and the unyielding courage
of his example and convictions, lead his country through the most dangerous experience
of its long history. He stood alone first, and then as Britain’s leader as she
stood alone, letting no defeat, no danger, no impossibly overwhelming odds
destroy his courage or his will. He would not give in. Never, never, never,
never. And, due in great part to the courage he inspired in others, neither
would his country.
Daily Devotions
·
Please
pray for me and this ministry
·
Please
Pray for Senator
McCain and our country; asking Our Lady of Beauraing to
intercede.
Comments
Post a Comment