I met a hero, but first I met a gentleman

Mary, Untier of Knots

Last Friday, I had another first in my life.  It was going to the US Embassy for their annual Memorial Day Service to give the prayer to begin their service remembering American war dead.  

So there I was, seated in the front row beside a polite and kind man in uniform.  I did not think much else of it, until he gave his address.  As I heard him speak, I realized that this man was worth a movie.  He had seen action in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines. This guy was a tough guy, done the hard yards. He was a true hero.  

Then as he spoke of the loss of his men, he stopped and cried.  He could do no other.  The tough, hardened soldier, as he remembered good men he knew who had fallen in battle, was simply and naturally moved to tears.  I realized instanteously I had met a gentleman, who was the toughened soldier, but who was first and foremost a truly decent human being,    

I subsequently reflected to be a brave man or woman, you first need to be a good human being.  Therein lies the key to being a person of courage.  A hero sat beside me that day.  I knew it not just because he shared his history of military duty.  Moreover, I knew it because he shared his history so as to remember his men who never returned home, to remember them with love, honour and tears.  As a real hero, he stood and cried with true humanity and dignity for ones he knew, respects and will never forget.  Real heroes do not just fight.  They feel for humanity.  .  

So Pope Francios finished May, his proclaimed month of devoition to the rosary, with leading the rosary in the Vtaican before the image of Mary, Untier of Knots.  Francis prayed that Mary might untie the knots of wounded relationships. of unemployment, of violence, of sickness and uncertainty, of all that stands in the way of our doing good.  

Mary, Untier of Knots; pray for us.