Lest We Forget

Yesterday I preached a Remembrance Day sermon based on the Gospel passage from Mark 12: 38-44.  This is the well-known passage of the Widow’s offering in which Jesus commends a poor widow for giving so much out of her poverty:

‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’

The widow gave all that see had.  The widow’s offering – sometimes called the widow’s mite, represents for us today those who made the supreme sacrifice for Canada in war. The served and died for their country.  They gave everything that they had - their lives for their country - for their comrades - for their loved ones and all others who remained at home.  We give thanks today for their sacrifice.  Unfortunately, the sacrifice continues, and men and women are still called to serving and dying for their countries.  The Prince of Peace was born in Bethlehem, but peace does not yet reign.  We also remember those who serve and suffer because of the conflict – the effect can continue after they return home – through the effects of combat - both physical and psychological.  Their sacrifice continues.  Our response can be to honour that sacrifice and ensure that they are not forgotten.  But it can also be that we pray that peace will reign.  That war will no longer be carried out - that we will study war no more. 

Humankind does not seem capable of making this happen.  It can only happen through the grace of God.  We pray that some day it will be so.  Let us end with the prayer for the Armed forces and the prayer for peace from the B.A.S. 

The prayer for the armed forces:

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad.  Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

The prayer for Peace:

O God, it is your will to hold both heaven and earth in a single peace.  Let the design of your great love shine on the waste of our wraths and sorrows, and give peace to your Church, peace among nations, peace in our homes, and peace in our hearts, through your son Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Amen

The Bells of Peace

Yesterday marked the one hundredth anniversary of the armistice that ended World War 1, the Great War to end all wars.  To mark the occasion The Royal Canadian Legion in conjunction with Veterans Affairs was sponsoring the Bells of Peace.  As noted on the Legion website:

Bells of Peace marks the occasion 100 years ago, when church bells across Canada rang out to share the news: the First World War was over. As the sun goes down, a bell or bells will be rung 100 times at community locations across the country to honour the sacrifices of Canadians who served in the 1914-1918 War, and to remembers the horrors of war, the costs to society, and the promise of peace.

As bells toll to remember the 650,000 who served, close to 66,000 killed, and more than 172,000 wounded, many communities will also commemorate the local people and events that link their community to the Great War. A soundwave of bells across the nation will help tell a historical journey of Canada's service and sacrifice during the First World War.

At my home church, St. James Anglican Church, Parkhill, a group of us gathered at 5:00 pm yesterday and rang the church bell 100 times (there may have been a few extra for good measure as the count was a bit unclear at the end).  I am gratified that this endeavour was named the Bells of Peace as it is important that when we remember the sacrifices made by so many in that War to end Wars, and in so many wars and conflicts since then, that we not only honour those who sacrificed in so many different ways but also the hope and promise of peace that was embraced by so many at that time. 

As the Chaplain to Branch 341 of the Royal Canadian Legion, at the service at the cenotaph at 11:00, I read the honour role of those who gave their lives in that war was well as WW2 and the Korean War from this area.  I am grateful that no name has been added to the honour role since the Korean War.  It is important to also remember the sacrifices made by all who have served since then in so many conflicts which continue to this day.  The latest conflict involving Canadians is the Peacekeeping effort tin Mali in which a contingent of 250 Canadian soldiers are engaged in what is described as ‘complex’.  In today’s sometimes confusing political climate peacekeeping has devolved in more peacemaking that keeping.

Since the end of conflict one hundred years ago the reality of war we have become more aware of the consequences for those who have served.  Those who were involved in war zones can suffer significant and lasting serious negative impacts on their mental health as well as the physical which are often easier to see.  What was known as shell shock in WW1 is now recognized as PTSD.  The consequences on these conditions and others like it and the impact it continues to have on the veterans and their families is now much more appreciated.  It is important that the sacrifice and suffering by all who have served and continue to serve is not forgotten of diminished. 

A week ago, Lorna saw the wonderful play, Come From Away, which tells the true events of the people who were passengers commercial air planes on 9-11 and were diverted to Gander NFLD as air space over the United States was shut down.  The story of one woman particularly stood out for me.  Her son was a fire fighter in New York and she spent the time grounded in Gander trying without success to find out if he was safe. 

The anxiety and fear she experienced during those six days were dramatically presented with great force.  It was not until later that she was informed that he had died as a first responder in the Twin Towers.  I share this account not to diminish in any way the ultimate sacrifice of those who we honour today.  It is to recognize the sacrifice made by so many in so many different circumstances which should also be honoured and remembered.  It is also to recognize and honour the sacrifices by those who loved the ones who made the sacrifices.

We, who follow the Prince of Peace, are called to pray and to work for peace in this world where that often seem to be a dream and hope which is receding in the distance.   I will close with the prayer that I prayed at when we gathered to ring the Bell of Peace at St. James, the Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.