J
JohnTomHoc
Guest
Today I saw a sunburned man in his 30s walking along the road with the cardboard sign on his ragged backpack, “Homeless Veteran, can you help”.
It grieved me 12 years ago to see the enthusiasm of people the ages of my friends’ children being swept up in patriotic enthusiasm & the people against the war being mocked and ridiculed, often by people professing faith.
And here we see the wounded Christs of our time, walking along the roads; husbands & fathers with PTSD & the violence that goes with it. Thank God for those who are working to get them the help they need. But I pray that the Church, with Pope Francis giving us such a good example, will be the first to bind up the wounds.
Code:
I grew up under the shadow of the Vietnam War in a family that supported the war; from age 5 until the US withdrew combat troops, when I was 12, I was sure I'd be drafted when I graduated high school. In college, I frequently encountered vets who were getting their degrees. There was a black pastor who looked sadly at my youthful ignorance; "Man, Vietnam was a My Lai a week." There was the Latino who had 'humped the boonies', who would just shake his head when asked. There was a third, who was stationed in Saigon -- for him it had been 'the best time of my life.'And here we see the wounded Christs of our time, walking along the roads; husbands & fathers with PTSD & the violence that goes with it. Thank God for those who are working to get them the help they need. But I pray that the Church, with Pope Francis giving us such a good example, will be the first to bind up the wounds.