Can you imagine going to bed, a Ukrainian or Russian soldier, wondering if you will be alive at the end of the week or end of the month? What will happen to the wife you love so much, or the son or daughter who bring so much joy and laughter to your world?
The soldiers on the ground often know nothing of the politics above them. They are just trying to survive. To protect those they love, and themselves. Their courage and selflessness are without question, but that does not mean that they do not suffer. We all “bleed the same”. We all hurt the same. And many of us believe the same. And God Loves us all, on all sides. These are the soldiers that understand what is coming and many fall to their knees in prayer begging God for Mercy.
Then there are the soldiers, many of them young. Just kids really. Who don’t realize the suffering that war brings. They run towards war, not realizing how truly horrific it will be, but sadly, they will soon find out.
But although the suffering of war may not be avoided, suffering alone can be.
Forty-one years ago, The Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys were playing for a Divisional Championship (football). The Dallas Cowboys were loosing, until Roger Staubach threw an improbable touch down. “A come from behind” win”. The fans, of course, went wild. And ever since then, the” Hail Mary pass”, a “Hail Mary”, became a “thing”.
We, as a world are losing now. I woke up this morning to read about yet another “satanic” club opening in a middle school. How did we ever come to allow such a horrific thing around God’s Most Precious, Innocent Gift, our children? And how have we let war come so close?
When Mary, our Blessed Mother, appeared in Fatima, She warned us of what would happen if we kept “offending” God. And indeed, our world, our country, has clearly continued “offending” God! And it’s time for the “Hail Mary pass”.
The Rosary is a simple ,but powerful prayer. Any one can say it and every one should, especially now. The Our Father, Ten Hail Mary,. a prayer to Jesus for Salvation, and a Glory Be To God… We can each pray five decades every day for the comfort and salvation of all. On the battle field, where the worst suffering comes, soldiers can pray it every day and be assured that if their time comes, they will not face it alone.
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” – Matthew 6:21
There is a song that says “Through it all , my eyes are on you”. On and off the battle field, that is where our eyes need to be. For God is with us-all of us. And He Loves us all!