• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Parishioners pray the rosary near the grave of a Civil War soldier at St. James at Sag Bridge Parish in Lemont, Illinois, following a Mass in celebration of Memorial Day, May 25, 2015. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

‘Do this in memory of me’

May 28, 2018
By Father Curtiss Dwyer
Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Guest Commentary

Our Memorial Day was originally known as “Decoration Day,” an opportunity to decorate many graves of the over 600,000 men who died in the Civil War. It was, by far, our nation’s costliest war in terms of human life, about 2 percent of the entire population. Today, that would translate into 6.5 million people. Memorial Day honors all who have died in military service to our country since its inception.

But why should we, as a nation and as Catholics, remember something so … grim?

It was September 2006. The rooftop was sweltering. Three U.S. Navy SEALs were in an “overwatch” position on a Ramadi home with two Iraqi soldiers. It had been an eventful morning, but it was quiet at the moment. From below, without warning, someone lobbed a grenade. It bounced off Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor’s chest, then clattered on the deck. Penned together, all five were easy prey for the grenade’s deadly spray of shrapnel. At point-blank range, it couldn’t miss.

Monsoor yelled, “Grenade!” and made a snap decision that would mark him for all time. He flung himself onto the device, smothering it with his torso, just in time to absorb the blast. The result was predictable; he lived only 25 minutes before dying of his injuries. His companions escaped with only scratches and minor wounds.

Because of the configuration of the rooftop, only one of the five men had a pathway of escape, had he chosen to use it: Yes, Michael Monsoor. For his stunningly self-sacrificial action, he received the Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest military honor, posthumously. As is written in his official Navy Summary of Action, “Monsoor’s actions that day could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional.”

I tell recently commissioned Catholic Marine officers the story of this heroic Navy SEAL. And I ask them who, further back in history, perfectly embodied a sacrifice that “could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional.” The answer of course: Jesus Christ. What Our Lord did to save us could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional.

“Do this in memory of me” (1 Cor 11:24).

We know from his official biography that Michael Monsoor “devotionally” attended Catholic Mass prior to his missions. Apparently, he was a man who intentionally sought to integrate his faith with his daily life of military service. How many times did he hear the words following the consecration, “Do this in memory of me”?

How deeply was this Scripture etched in his mind and memory as he went about his dangerous duties? What did it mean to him? Jesus uttered these words at the Last Supper, just before his own stunningly self-sacrificial action on the cross. Did Monsoor make this profound connection?

It is inconceivable that those who survived the rooftop blast would forget Monsoor’s sacrifice. Their very lives are a testament to what he did to save them. Likewise, the church’s entire devotional life is about remembering — calling to mind some aspect of the paschal mystery, meditating upon it, being present to it, making it present to us.

Each time we devoutly pray the rosary or walk the Stations of the Cross, for example, we are stirring into fresh awareness what Jesus did to save us. Even more so, at Mass, his sacrifice is actually made present to us. Our faith is fed by remembering, calling to mind, what Jesus specifically did.

The freedom and salvation we know as Catholic Christians are clearly traceable to a specific choice made by a man in sacrificing himself (Jn 10:18), just as the SEALs who escaped the otherwise-deadly blast that day on the rooftop are alive today because of a specific choice of a man to sacrifice himself.

Memorial Day is an opportunity, as a nation, to remember and appreciate those who have died so that we might live … freely. The civil blessings of stability, prosperity and freedom we enjoy are a testament to the price they paid. As Catholics, we remember those who have gone before and pray for their souls. I, like many priests on Memorial Day, will offer Mass for the repose of those who have died in service to our great nation. Honoring the fallen is important for us sinners who tend to take our blessings for granted.

But maybe, most important of all, Memorial Day can help inspire us to the greatest thing of which we are capable, by God’s grace: sacrificial love. Love that sacrifices for the beloved is divine and the only true love.

In remembering what Our Lord did, what all his saints have done in memory of him, and what others such as Michael Monsoor have done, we are reoriented to what life is really all about. We are more likely, in our turn, to love someone at our expense. At its best, Memorial Day is a civil and military echo of a profound theological truth: that God, “who is love” (1 Jn 4:8), sacrificed himself so that we might live (1 Pt 2:24).

And Our Lord says to each of us: “Do this in memory of me.”

Copyright ©2018 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

 

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Father Curtiss Dwyer

Father Curtiss Dwyer, a priest of the Archdiocese of Denver, is a U.S. Navy chaplain assigned to the Marines in Quantico, Virginia.

View all posts from this author

Recent Commentary

A personal flyswatter and other gifts, hummus, and a new room (7 Quick Takes)

A Faith Lesson After a Power Outage

Chocolate birthday cake with 4 candles

My birthday festivities, a painting project, and spaghetti pizza for lunch (7 Quick Takes)

Just by showing up

Where is God on your family’s calendar?

Recent Local News

Young adults from Archdiocese of Baltimore invited to experience local and international World Youth Day events

Archdiocese of Baltimore welcomes new school leaders

RADIO INTERVIEW: Camp St. Vincent

Archbishop Lori decries Biden executive order, ‘continued promotion of abortion’

Archbishop Lori urges Congress to ‘seize hopeful moment,’ vote to protect life, common good

Catholic Review Radio

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Young adults from Archdiocese of Baltimore invited to experience local and international World Youth Day events
  • Overturning of Roe provides ‘chance to win fight for life,’ says top Knight
  • Desire for eternal youth is ‘delusional,’ pope says
  • Archdiocese of Baltimore welcomes new school leaders
  • Father Carl Kabat, a former Baltimore resident, spent 17 years in prison for anti-nuclear protests
  • Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, pope tells young people
  • 5th Circuit urged to keep injunction in place on HHS transgender mandate
  • MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Predator’ prequel hunts for ‘Prey’
  • Cardinal Tomko, oldest member of College of Cardinals, dies at 98

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2022 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED