Letter from the Pastor
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July 16, 2023At least two of our young parishioners are going against the tide, and they are certainly in the minority. John Costello and Danny Hooker have enlisted in the military, the Marines. John left last week and Danny goes next week to Parris Island. We thank them and are very proud of them. They just graduated from Pearl River High school in June. We pray for them, and their perseverance but I think more prayers are needed for their Moms! We look forward to seeing them in their uniforms in October.
John and Danny are the exception. Some numbers that keep military recruiters awake at night: 77% percent of young people (ages 17- 24, which is 24 - 34 million Americans) are ineligible to join the military because of obesity, no high school diploma, or a criminal record.
Of the 23% of Gen Z (born after 1997) who are eligible for military service, only 12.5%, the lowest number in a decade, shows any interest in military service.
Army Major General Malcolm Frost, the commander of the Army’s Initial Military Training Command said, “I would argue that the next existential threat we have…is the inability to man our military.”
Since 1973, in reaction to the Vietnam War, President Nixon abolished the draft and made our military purely volunteer. The Pentagon has budgeted $3.1 billion dollars in recruiting. Unless you come from a military family, the chances of a young person enlisting are extremely rare.
Serving in our military is a noble profession; Catholics have a great tradition in serving our country. We remember the Irish volunteers who fought in our Revolutionary War and the Civil War, the Catholic chaplains in WWII, who so inspired the men that many Protestants converted to Catholicism because of their heroics on the battlefield. At that time, many of the chaplains were Jesuits.
Down through the centuries, many soldiers became saints. St. Michael is the Patron Saint of the Military, and each branch of the military has their particular patron saint. From St. Joan of Arc to St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Sebastian, SS. John and Paul, St. George, St. Maurice, St. Barbara, St. Joseph Cupertino, St. Martin of Tours and St. Brendan the Navigator.
Even in our own time, the Church holds up the Servant of God Emil Kapaun who was a U.S. Army Chaplain who gave his life in the service of his fellow-soldiers when they were captured by Chinese forces in the Korean War. He died in a prisoner of war camp in 1951 and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Another Medal of Honor recipient, Servant of God Vincent Capodanno, was a Marine Chaplain who was killed in action in the Vietnam War.
These are just a few of the great saints who take care of our men and women in the military and
so we pray for those who serve our country. May God and all the military saints watch over and protect them.
So, Danny and John, as you will probably hear and shout a million times,
Semper Fi.
“Always faithful.”
To God and Country.
