Two Veterans Riveting True Stories

Kevin and I both have a number of family members and friends who have served in the armed forces over the years. We would like to thank all of them for their dedication to serving and protecting our country.

FEARLESS

This past summer I read a very powerful book I believe all military personnel and their families and friends will want to put towards the top of their readings lists.  Fearless is a full-throttle, no holding back, breakneck-paced true story of Navy SEAL Adam Brown. Ever since his childhood, Adam Brown was a risk taker who loved pushing the limits. This engaging account of his life is nothing short of breathtaking, earth-changing, and absolutely miraculous.

     
Eric Blehm, New York Times Best-selling Author of The Only Thing Worth Dying For, has masterfully illustrated and expressed the fascinating trials, triumphs, tribulations, and turmoil that defined a man hardwired with a mission to give everything he had and was in mind, body, and spirit in service to his country, his family, and his comrades.  To read my full book review, click here.

    
To listen to the song Fearless by Mark Dowdy, click here.   

The Shadow of His Wings

     
I read The Shadow of His Wings after hearing a friend sing its praises time and again. Though I’m not one to read many tomes that are predominantly about war, I took exception to this story and am grateful I did. Never before have I read about such profound faith being lived out in such unbelievable ways in the midst of a soldier in the midst of battle…

     
There were times when reading that I laughed aloud at the complete and utter audacity of this priest/soldier/nurse. Though steadfast in faith, boldly outspoken, and extremely courageous, even this man was amazed by how prayer and intercession made the impossible possible when it came to a number of circumstances. His journey to priesthood is not by any stretch of the imagination normal, nor are the ways he lives out his call to be a man of the cloth once he does finally get ordained.
     
Among my favorite examples of his unorthodox approach has to be when he held a bishop at gunpoint who failed to believe he was a priest and honestly wanted to be let into the church to obtain Communion, so he could bring it to his comrades on the battlefield. The minute the bishop concedes, the first thing Fr. Gereon Goldmann wants to do is have the bishop hear his Confession.    
     
Not only did this man dodge bullets to save soldiers physically and/or spiritually, but he also reserved using his weapon in order to gain access to the sacraments. He is a remarkable role model of faith fine-tuned in some of the most horrible circumstances. His missionary work after the war proves God had miracles upon miracles to bring about through this man dedicated to doing God’s will at all costs. I hope Fr. Gereon Goldmann’s life and service to God will be studied and that he will be considered for sainthood.

On Our Minds, In Our Prayers

     
The following is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a dear family friend before he left for Afghanistan:  “Many times it is much easier for me to see Christ in others than it is to see and accept that He dwells within me, too.  There is a quote by Henri Nouwen that perfectly sums this up: “You are here for just a short time...to discover and believe that you are a beloved child of God."

As I’ve been praying for you this week, it’s come to me to remind you that first and foremost you are a beloved son of God.  Your service and submission to the Lord will always be most important in life wherever you are and whatever you’re doing.  God the Father, the Blessed Mother, and Jesus Christ are the only ones who will be with you wherever you go, who will never leave you, never give up on you, and never stop loving you. 

     
My guess is that some of the hardest battles you’ve fought and things you’ve been through have come from your own thoughts and feelings, most often, the lies you’ve believed about God, yourself, and others.  I know I’ve often been my own worst enemy.  Stay close to the Lord.  He will guide you even in what seems to be your darkest hour.  Don’t forget that even more important than your fidelity and service to the US Military is your role as a child of God put on this Earth to be and do things no one else can. 
     
God can take any situation, any place, any group of people, and any circumstances and use them to help you become the best version of yourself.  You never have been and never will be the “property” of the US government.  They have you on loan from the Lord.  Keep God at the center, and everything will come together.  That’s not to say there won’t be suffering, pain, and struggles, but it is to say that God’s Love, mercy, forgiveness, Truth, and peace will prevail.”

Follow-up note: We are very grateful that this friend has since returned safe and sound to the United States from his deployment.   

My Prayer for Veterans and Their Families: May God bless all those who are mourning the loss of loved ones and may He protect all of those who are in harm's way, and give their families courage to continue on.
     
Lord, guide us closer to You in all areas of our lives. Help us not lose hope no matter what situation we find ourselves in or how severely we are tested in mind, body, and/or spirit. Jesus, we trust in You. Amen. 

Happy Independence Day!

       Kevin and I are spending our July 4, 2011 in the same place where we spent one of my favorite Independence Days ever.  To read about, my all-time favorite, click here.
As part of celebrating the day, I’ve chosen to write about a few good men. 

An All-American Patriot: Harry Potter 

Yes, I am related to Harry Potter, and I can testify that he was truly an all-American patriot.  My father-in-law, Harry Darwin Potter, was born on Labor Day, September 5, 1927, and died the eve of Memorial Day 2005 at the time Kevin and his family would traditionally have been sharing a family dinner at the cottage. 

       Harry served in the army towards the end of World War II.  Upon returning to the United States, he got married, and they had four children.  He worked at Kodak for 42 years, at a time when it was still customary to work for one company throughout your entire career.  He was a very loving son, brother, husband, father, uncle, father-in-law, and grandfather.  His legacy lives on in the many lives he touched over the years. 

 

A Courageous Man Serving in Afghanistan: Luke Baab

 

Someone Kevin and I have come to consider as our brother is currently serving our country in a special unit in Afghanistan.  This is actually the first time I’ve gotten to know someone well and be a part of their lives before they went on active duty overseas. 

For a while now, I’ve been in the habit of praying for each member of the Baab family, as they have become family to us.  Prayers for Luke have been a bit different now that he’s in harm’s way. 

     
One prayer I shared with him a while ago is worth mentioning and praying for each person going into battle:

 

Ancient Prayer to St. Joseph

 

O St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.  O St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for  me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.  O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms.  I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart.  Press Him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.  St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for me.  Amen.

Imprimatur: Most Rev. George W. Ahr., Bishop of Trenton

Say for nine days as a novena.

According to oral tradition, whoever reads this prayer or hears it or carries it, will never die a sudden death, nor be drowned, nor will poison take effect on them.  They will not fall into the hands of the enemy nor be burned in any fire, nor will they be defeated in battle.

(This prayer among many other powerful ones can be found in: The Pieta Prayer booklet.

A Model of Spiritual Dependence: Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan

 

The homily Kevin and I heard at Mass this weekend celebrated our dependence on the Lord, our freedom from the eternal repercussions of sin because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice.  We are no longer slaves in bondage to sin.  Christ bore the punishment, suffering, and pain for us to be free spiritually. 
   
When I think of spiritual independence, Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan comes to mind.  This man was truly an amazing example of what it means to be free in time and eternity.  During his thirteen years in prison, nine of them in solitary confinement, he remained faithful to the Lord and drew even closer to Christ.  In some of the worst physical and emotional conditions possible, Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan clung to Christ and to the Cross.  To learn more about this dedicated man of God, check out the Road of Hope DVD or the book The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison.    

I hope you and your families 

have an enjoyable weekend filled with blessings!  

God bless America...and every place else!

Unlikely Spiritual Heroes

Unlikely Spiritual Heroes attracted me, in part, because I recognized the last four people of the eight Brennan R. Hill writes about in the book and have read autobiographical books by them which I really enjoyed. The journalistic writing, attention to detail, and the threads connecting each of these Catholic stalwarts of the faith made it a strong, powerful testimony to the different ways people are called to serve Christ and His people. Hill devotes a chapter to each of the following model Catholics: Jean Donovan, Helen Prejean, Dorothy Stang, Pedro Arrupe, Thomas Merton, Maximilian Kolbe, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, and Pope John Paul II.
    
The viewpoint and tone more closely resemble that of an aggressive, hardcore reporter than that of a biographer piecing together the softer versions of people’s lives already covered in other texts. I wasn’t prepared for what I encountered in these pages. This book isn’t for the faint of heart or the faint of stomach. Some of the descriptions are gruesome. I found myself grimacing when I read certain parts.      The extreme poverty, far-reaching government corruption, and effects of war are depicted quite vividly which serves to underline the awful conditions these men and women were up against. I was deeply disturbed by the graphic details used to describe the trials and tribulations these men and women suffered and/or the atrocities they witnessed.
    
For anyone who thinks that missionary work, prison ministry, serving the poor, or living out the call within a call that’s often part of consecrated religious life is for softies, this book should be mandatory reading. I agree completely that each of these men and women deserves the title hero. They not only battled the principalities of the dark, but often had to came up against those who wanted to do them physical harm for the work they were doing to protect and promote the dignity and sanctity of human life in all its forms.
    
I recommend this book, especially for those who want to know what life is like in the trenches for those fighting against evil, corruption, destruction, despair, illness, desolation, poverty, death, inequality, hatred, and violence.
    
This review was written as part of the Catholic books reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Unlikely Spiritual Heroes . I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wisdom for Everyday Life from the Book of Revelation

As seems to be the case with many people, the rich symbolism in the Book of Revelation has sometimes confused me. I’ve probably heard more about how Hollywood or a popular series of loosely Christian fiction would portray what’s described in the Book of Revelation than what scholars familiar with the doctrine, teachings, and Catechism of the Catholic Church would venture to say about the apocalyptic book.
    
I found Wisdom for Everyday Life from the Book of Revelation easy to follow and even enjoy. Fr. Veras uses a wide variety of Scriptural support and Church teachings as well as numerous examples from modern-day literature and even popular movies in order to explicate and illustrate the unusual imagery in the final book of the Bible.
    
It seems that his roles as a priest and a teacher compliment each other nicely and contribute to a writing style that is both spiritually edifying as well as engaging. He goes through Revelation and describes the significance of the major incidents and key players involved in a way that makes it understandable for those of us who have studied the Bible, know a bit about the significance of some symbols and the meaning of certain numbers, but who haven’t necessarily taken that knowledge and attempted to apply it to the beasts, dragons, wars, horses, and celestial bodies flying about that at first glance seem to be straight out of some fantasy book.
    
Fr. Veras draws parallels and points out the foreshadowing that exists among the other books in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, and the Book of Revelation in a manner that is clear to follow, yet one which respects the mystery that still remains within the text.
    
Reading this book certainly made beginning to understand at least the main symbols and storyline in Revelation much easier than I thought it would be.
    
This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Wisdom for Everyday Life From the Book of Revelation. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow of His Wings

I read The Shadow of His Wings after hearing a friend sing its praises time and again. Though I’m not one to read many tomes that are predominantly about war, I took exception to this story and am grateful I did. Never before have I read about such profound faith being lived out in such unbelievable ways in the midst of a soldier in the midst of battle.
   
There were times when reading that I laughed aloud at the complete and utter audacity of this priest/soldier/nurse. Though steadfast in faith, boldly outspoken, and extremely courageous, even this man was amazed by how prayer and intercession made the impossible possible when it came to a number of circumstances. His journey to the priesthood is not by any stretch of the imagination normal, nor are the ways he lives out his call to be a man of the cloth once he does finally get ordained.
    
Among my favorite examples of his unorthodox approach has to be when he held a bishop at gunpoint who failed to believe he was a priest and honestly wanted to be let into the church to obtain Communion, so he could bring it to his comrades on the battlefield. The minute the bishop concedes, the first thing Fr. Gereon Goldmann wants to do is have the bishop hear his Confession.
    
Not only did this man dodge bullets to save soldiers physically and/or spiritually, but he also reserved using his weapon in order to gain access to the sacraments. He is a remarkable role model of faith fine-tuned in some of the most horrible circumstances. His missionary work after the war proves God had miracles upon miracles to bring about through this man dedicated to doing God’s will at all costs. I hope Fr. Gereon Goldmann’s life and service to God will be studied and that he will be considered for sainthood.
     You can purchase this book here. I wrote this review of The Shadow of His Wings for the Tiber River Blogger Review program.  I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.