The Risen Soldier
Francis Spellman, the Archbishop of New York and later Cardinal, hated the war and its powers of destruction. At times it seemed to him that God’s kingdom of love on Earth was almost at the point of being overwhelmed. He felt that this blanket of darkness was in danger of covering the planet, unless mankind could learn the lesson of peace from the soldiers doing the fighting. He saw these brave young men and women as Christ-like figures, willingly exposing themselves to death in the hope that something good would grow from their sacrifice. He grew to love and respect these soldiers and wrote a moving poem in tribute to them and the cause for which they had to fight:
I am the risen soldier; though I die
I shall live on and, living, still achieve
My country’s mission Liberty in truth
And truth in Charity. I am aware
God made me for this nobler flight and fight,
A higher course than any I had deemed
Could ever be; and having found my course,
Whether I ground my plane on the home field
Or plunge a flaming banner from the skies,
I shall not turn again to petty things,
Nor change my plan of life till God has sealed
My papers with His seal. And if it be
My blood should mingle reverently with Christ’s,
His Son’s, in this my final missioning,
Shall I not whisper with my dying breath
“Lord, it is sweet to die as it were good
To live, to strive for these United States,
Which, in Your wisdom, you have willed should be
A beacon to the world, a living shrine
Of Liberty and Charity and Peace.”334
We can only pray that our nation continues to fulfill God’s purpose as a beacon of freedom to the world, and that America will always be worthy of such a prayer.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
—Isaiah 53:5