Veterans Day – Luke 17:11-19
I am not a veteran. I never served in the military. But I am the father of a veteran, of a combat veteran, and I think of him on this Veterans Day, which also happens to be the memorial of St. Martin of Tours, who was also a soldier.
Our oldest son, John, joined the Army National Guard and then was sent to Iraq and into combat. He and his unit were assigned to patrol the major supply route south of Baghdad, at night, getting shot at by Iraqis and returning fire and capturing those they could. Their base was repeatedly mortared. There were roadside bombs.
John came back more or less in one piece physically, though he has chronic problems with his shoulders and back, but he was a changed man interiorly, deeply changed, and this is what I want to praise today, this deep reorientation.