Freedom Is Not Free; It Is Costly – A Memorial Day Recollection

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 05-24-15 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Salvation]

Video

[Salvation]

Our soldiers, police officers, and first responders are deserving of our honor, for they put their lives on the line so that others can live, be more free, and experience abundance. None of us can fail to appreciate the burdensome weight that some carry so that we can live well, freely, and comfortably. Freedom is not free; it is costly.

Monsignor Pope Ping!

[Texas Eagle]

Our soldiers, police officers, and first responders are deserving of our honor, for they put their lives on the line so that others can live, be more free, and experience abundance.

No disrespect to police officers and first responders but Memorial Day is about those who were killed in military combat.

I think police officers have their own Memorial Day. If they don't, they should.

[verga]

No disrespect to police officers and first responders but Memorial Day is about those who were killed in military combat.

I seem to recall a number of Police and First responders that gave all on 9/11.

[GreyFriar]

thank you for this post.

[notaliberal]

The golfer in chief pretending he cares at the “Laying of the Wreath”

[Texas Eagle]

I seem to remember a number of office workers, businessmen and flight attendants killed on 9/11. Their deaths are not diminished by not including them in Memorial Day tributes.

Memorial Day is specifically for those killed in military action. Sorry. That's just the way it is.

Again. No disrespect meant to police officers and firefighters.

[Old Sarge]

“Mansions of the Lord” never fails...

[Salvation]

I think the Monsignor was working on the thesis that police and fire fighters, medical crews with an ambulance all deserve our respect and honor.

Just recently a guard patrolling a housing development was killed. To me, his grieving family and his soul are important too.

[Texas Eagle]

I think the Monsignor was working on the thesis that police and fire fighters, medical crews with an ambulance all deserve our respect and honor.

I agree. Just not on Memorial Day.

Well, we should respect and honor the work they do EVERY day just as we should respect and honor the work our armed forces engage in every day.

The work police and firefighters engage in do not protect our freedom the same way the work our military personnel engage in does.

Again, no disrespect to police and firefighters.

We honor the sacrifice they made on 9/11 on 9/11.

[Salvation]

**Well, we should respect and honor the work they do EVERY day just as we should respect and honor the work our armed forces engage in every day.**

BTTT!

[Texas Eagle]

For the record, according to timeanddate.com, Peace Officers Memorial Day was observed on May 15 this year.

[ravenwolf]

Memorial Day is specifically for those killed in military action. Sorry. That’s just the way it is.

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I agree.

[ravenwolf]

The military are serving for very little pay and ready to fight for the freedom that the people of this nation used to believe in.

While the police do many good things they are not fighting for freedom, in many cases they are just working for what they believe have the most benefits and prestiege.

[Salvation]

Sad

[Biggirl]

Sad that even special tributes come into question.

[Salvation]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WDrbbtaO0E&feature=youtu.be

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. Freedom isn’t free.

[Grateful2God]

**Last September his family asked me if I would offer the old Latin Requiem Mass for him, since that was the only form of the Mass he had ever known. **

My Dad fought in the Army in the Korean War. I never knew until after he died that her been on the front lines. One story he did tell was about a Korean priest who brought a corporal (not the military kind: a corporal is a specially blessed cloth. Relics sewn within make it appropriate for Mass to be celebrated in situations such as this; the relics serve as the altar stone would.) and celebrated Mass on the hood of a Jeep. My Dad spoke a little Korean; the priest a little English- but Mass was in Latin. Everyone there was able to hear Mass that day. My father could never tell that story without crying. He had a great love of the Latin, and said it was painful to hear It in English for the first time. He never lost his perspective, though. Never missed, even when he was crippled and using a walker.

God bless that priest. God bless all those whom we remember today, and those who continue to fight. I pray to God that, one day, our Armed Forces will have a Commander in Chief who is worthy of their allegiance, and a nation that truly appreciates their sacrifices and those of their loved ones.

[Grateful2God]

**Private First Class Arthur Richardson went north during the Korean War; he did not return to us. But he carried well the great weight of being a solider. He also carried the weight of collective human sinfulness (which is what brings war) and felt its burden keenly; he gave his life.**

So beautifully said.

Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.