Unsung Heroes

Whenever I see a servicemember I thank them for their service. They make daily sacrifices so that I can live free.

But there are other soldiers on the job 24/7--not so I can live free, but so I can live forever. These guys remain faithful through isolation, scandal, overwork, and the contempt of much of society. So the next time I see a priest, I will say, "Father, thank you for your service."

Nietzsche was only partly right....

That which does not kill us makes us strong. But sometimes we wish it would go ahead and kill us.

St. Edith Stein on Plans

Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. I have an ever deeper and firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to the smallest details has been marked out for me in the plan of Divine Providence and has a completely coherent meaning in God’s all-seeing eyes. And so I am beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me.

— Edith Stein, Saint Teresa Benedicta a Cruce, martyred at Auschwitz, August 1942