On hallowed grounds, warmed by the sun and caressed by strong winds Monday morning, Elgin area residents paid tribute to military and family loved ones no longer with us.
Memorial Day was observed Monday with separate services at West Cedar Valley/St. Boniface Cemeteries and, earlier in the day, at Park Center Cemetery.
Father Ross Burkhalter of St. Boniface and St. Bonaventure Catholic Churches, and Pastor Janet Davis of Park Community Church, addressed a large turnout of family and area residents at each cemetery.
Speaking at the 11 a.m. service, Father Burkhalter used the words of Fulton Sheen to express his thoughts about the solemn occasion. “Generally, respect for groups varies with their numbers; the more numerous they are, the less they are esteemed,” Burkhalter read from Sheen’s book. “But it is not so with fighting forces. No group equally large is so revered. It is their high calling to the defense of justice and freedom that makes them loved.”
Then from another passage, Burkhalter again used Sheen’s words to describe what the brave men and women of our military do. Sheen wrote, “I am not fighting for a freedom that means the right to do whatever I please but for a freedom that means the right to do whatever I ought. Oughtness implies law; Law implies Intelligence; and Intelligence implies God.
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