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Memorial Day Prayer 2015 on the Madison, CT Green - Pastor Greg Scalzo

Invocation delivered at the Madison, CT Memorial Day Ceremony at the town Green

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father

We remember today those service members of all the armed
forces who are no longer with us but have passed from this
world into Your just and merciful hands. Some gave their
very lives, dying in their service to this country.

But they did not do so as so many other warriors in history,
who sought plunder, or power, or to enlarge their domain.
Instead, they laid down their lives for something noble and
good and beautiful. They sacrificed for the idea of a special
nation—one such as had never existed before in the annals
of human history. They offered themselves for America—a
blessed, unique land where every individual enjoyed
unprecedented freedom; yet a land whose people did not
use that freedom recklessly or as libertines, but were keenly
aware of the great responsibilities they had to each other
and before You. A country where each could worship freely
as he or she saw fit; yet not a godless country, but one
where churches and synagogues dotted every town. A land
of diligence and self-reliance, and yet one where neighbors
were always quick to help and share. A land of laws and
governing bodies, yet a land where each citizen had a say
and, by constitution, a part in that rule.

And these brave defenders saw their service of protection of
this exceptional nation as a sacred trust. If any self-benefit
could be found in their motives it would be this: that they
fought and died so that their families and their children and
their children’s children would be raised in a safe and good
land, where both body and character would be fed and
prosper. America to them was more than just a territory or
government—it was a dream fulfilled, it was a consecrated
people, and it was home.

And so Father we owe them a great debt. And we are deeply
comforted by Your assurance of a world after this world. We
knew some of them as family and friends; but there are so
many more throughout the generations, going back even to
the founding of this nation, that we have never met, yet
whose lives profoundly impact each of us here today.

And it is my prayer that to honor their memory, to fulfill their
mission, and preserve the fruit of their sacrifice, that our
country would be that special nation—the noble and good and
beautiful America, she who is blessed by You and blesses
You in turn by her virtue and righteousness.

I ask this as a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen


© 2015 Gregory J. Scalzo