By Tim Lilley
The Message editor
Scores of friends and family members – and fellow veterans – visited St. Joseph Cemetery in Evansville May 30 for a Memorial Day Mass of the Resurrection in the mausoleum to remember veterans who gave their lives in service around the world.
Father Gene Schroeder, president of the cemetery and pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Vanderburgh County, call it a somber day, “even though it has been co-opted by all kinds of other things in our world. We are here remembering people who gave their lives.
“All of our veterans gave a lot, and some gave the fullness of their lives. Robert E. Lee once said, ‘It is good that war is so terrible, ‘else we would like it too much.’”
Father Gene added, “We are called to bear witness – to stand for the values Jesus taught. That can be really, really hard. We must have the courage to be a peaceful presence in the world for all we encounter.”
At the end of Mass, Father Gene led a closing prayer that included, “Help us dedicate ourselves again and again to building a world of peace by being makers of peace in our own lives. Give us courage to be instruments of forgiveness and healing in our world.”