Corporal Jason Lee Dunham was serving with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines Regiment, during the Iraq War.
On April 14, 2004, his convoy was responding to an attack that happened in a nearby town. Other Marines responded first, detaining several vehicles and suspects. When one of the suspects tried escaping, Corporal Dunham engaged the man in hand-to-hand combat.
During the fight, the suspect pulled the pin out of a grenade and launched it at a group of Marines. Dunham threw his helmet and his body on top of the grenade, shielding his fellow soldiers from the blast.
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Eight days later, Corporal Dunham died from injuries sustained during the blast … at the tender age of 22.
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Today we honor all the men and women who, like Corporal Dunham, never returned home from combat. They offered themselves for the life of our nation: for our families, our children, our freedom, and our future.
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Stories like Corporal Dunham get to the essence of Christianity. As Jesus himself once said, “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Jesus did it. Dunham did it. We should do it.
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While we cannot offer ourselves for the life of the world as Christ did, nor may we be drawn into combat as Corporal Dunham was, we are all called to offer ourselves for the good of others, even in ordinary ways.
In what ways am I of service to others: To my family? To my country? To my God?
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May Corporal Dunham and all who’ve sacrificed themselves in any way for the protection of our lives, our freedom, and our faith find rest in Christ’s kingdom. Amen.
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Image credits: (1) Corporal Jason Lee Dunham, Wikipedia (2) Learn Religions
In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
The Word of the Lord.
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Life is full of transitions.
For example, we’ve entered graduation season. Many parents are watching their children graduate from elementary school, high school, or college. Each year brings a new class of graduates…and empty nesters.
In fact, I was with my family last weekend. My brother’s sister-in-law graduated from UVA.
Meanwhile, my niece, Victoria, walked across another stage. She graduated from pre-K and is on her way to kindergarten. It seems like yesterday that she was born, and now she’s all grown up!
Life passes quickly – too quickly.
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Ask anyone who’s lost a loved one. I’ve stood with a number of families this year as they commended their spouse, their parent, or their friend to God.
At the cemetery, they stand shocked, asking themselves, “What’s next? Where do we go from here? She was the matriarch … or he was the patriarch of the family. How will we survive without them?”
Or consider what families are asking themselves after the recent events in Texas. “What’s next? Where do we go from here? How will we survive without them?”
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Transitions.
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This is the feeling the disciples are left with today – that empty stomach, broken hearted feeling – as they watch Jesus ascend to heaven. How will they survive without him?
For the last three years, he’s lived and ministered among them. The disciples got used to having Jesus around. Suddenly, he’s crucified, dies, and is buried.
As the horror of Good Friday sets in, the disciples huddle together, asking themselves, “Where do we go from here? … Jesus was like the patriarch of our little family.”
To their absolute surprise, he is raised from the dead and appears to them – not once, not twice, but for forty days! Imagine what a consolation it was to have lost Jesus, only to see him again and again… day after day.
But now he’s leaving for good. What a rollercoaster!
No wonder the disciples are stunned. As our first reading says, they’re stuck, “looking intently at the sky.”
“How will we survive without him?”
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Transitions.
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Knowing they’re in need of support, God sends two angels who appear to the disciples, asking, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?”
Meaning, “Don’t just stand there. Do something!”
Jesus is no longer here; he’s returned to his Father. Now his ministry – the future of the Church – is in your hands. Go, do something about it! Share the Good News!
The disciples are experiencing a tough transition – one that leads them to much greater responsibility. Thankfully, it’s a yoke they won’t have to carry alone. While Christ ascends to the heavens, the Holy Spirit will descend upon them at Pentecost.
As Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “I will not leave you orphans.”
It’s a hard transition – going from life with Jesus, to life lived in his name. But by the grace of God, the disciples will succeed far beyond their wildest dreams.
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Like the disciples, how many of us are experiencing a transition? Or how many of us need the help of the Holy Spirit?
I think of my brother watching his daughter graduate; parents adjusting to an empty nest; friends seeking a career change; or those in Texas struggling to live without a child.
At times we all ask ourselves, “What’s next? Where do we go from here?”
In times of transition, the Gospel urges us to turn to the Holy Spirit – God’s presence among us – who promises to guide us, to enlighten our steps, to fill our hearts with peace, and to lead us to all truth.
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Allow me to conclude with a blessing, which I offer for anyone in transition or anyone in need of the grace of the Holy Spirit (with hands extended):
“God, you promised to send your Spirit upon us, and so we pray: Come, Holy Spirit. Come as Holy Fire, burning away our fears. Come as Consoler, filling our hearts with peace. Come as Light, leading us through the darkness. Come as Mercy, strengthening our faith. Convict us, convert us, consecrate us, lead us to our next step in life.”
And may Almighty God bless your journey, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Image credits: (1) Trinity Grace Church (2) Ascension of Christ, Dosso Dossi (3) House of God
Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In 1973, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East.
When his son was asked whether or not he thought Kissinger deserved the Prize for Peace, he answered, “My mother doesn’t think so.”
(Some years prior, Kissinger divorced his wife.)
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Peace is elusive. We all desire it. We all pray for it. We all strive for it in our hearts and homes, but what exactly is it?
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Peace comes in many forms.
There is, of course, the type of political peace that Kissinger worked for. But that peace still remains elusive in the Middle East. Having just traveled there with a group of parishioners, we saw firsthand how delicate it is.
The Israelis and Palestinians are co-existing at best; they’ll share an economy, but not their lives. They live in fragile peace, which isn’t rooted in love; it’s rooted in the fear of retaliation.
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Then there’s leisurely peace.
It’s the kind of peace you feel on a hot summer day, while laying on a floatie, drifting around a pool, sipping lemonade through a straw.
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There’s the prized “peace and quiet,” which for parents means the absence of noise; no nagging spouse or screaming children running around.
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None of these are the type of peace that Jesus offers us. What he offers is a much deeper sense of peace, the kind of peace that he himself felt while walking on this earth.
“Peace” – in Hebrew, “shalom” – is the first word that the Lord will say to his Apostles after being raised from the dead. It’s the fulfillment of the promise he makes to them in today’s Gospel, which happens during his final night on earth.
“Peace I leave with you,” he says, “my peace I give to you.”
But what exactly is this peace?
It’s not political peace. It’s not leisurely peace. It’s more profound. It’s “shalom.”
“Shalom” means to make whole; to restore; to be in good health. When Jesus says, “shalom” to his disciples, he reveals to them that he’s alive again; he’s back from the dead. His life has been restored.
And, by extension, humanity’s relationship with God has been restored.
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This is what God offers us, a type of peace that the world cannot give. Your life cannot be restored by sipping lemonade while floating in a pool; nor can nations live in harmony strictly through a carefully crafted peace deal.
Lasting peace comes from God. We must be restored – healed – by the Lord before we can expect peace in our world.
As our tour guide in Bethlehem reminded us, “You cannot have peace with your neighbor if you do not have peace in your heart.”
World peace, and our own inner peace, will only come from “shalom,” the fruit of God’s presence within.
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Why does peace remain elusive in the Middle East and around the world? Kissinger might boil it down to economics or politics.
But the Lord tells us, lasting peace comes – not with political agreements or a leisurely vacation – but with “shalom,” Christ’s gift to us.
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Image credits: (1) The Word Among Us (2) Nativist (3) The Snarky Vicar
