Memorial Day Prayer 2016 at American Legion Griswold Post 79, Madison, CT – Pastor Greg Scalzo

Invocation delivered at the Madison, CT Memorial Day Ceremony at The American Legion Griswold Post 79

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father,

We pray this morning for Your blessing and Your protection upon our assembly.

Father, we are so thankful for the many blessings You have poured out upon our nation. And we are especially grateful for the freedoms we have. No other people in history have enjoyed such freedom for such a continuous period of time. Freedom to live our lives, to raise our families, to do the jobs and engage in the enterprises we choose, to live and worship in the freedom of conscience. What a blessing.

But the price of this freedom was not and is not cheap. There was great cost. And so, today we remember together as a people and before Your holy throne, the brave men and women who put on the uniform of our nation to keep us safe and to keep us free—those who have passed from this world into the mercy of Your glorious hands.

The cost was great. All of them sacrificed valuable years of life in service to our nation. But some sacrificed everything—their very lives given on the field of battle in our defense. And we commemorate them today. For others the cost was loss of limb, injuries and wounds, some physical, some scars deep on the heart and mind that would be with them the rest of their lives.

And so, what do we say? How do we respond to such a great price paid for freedom? Father, please help us to never take for granted this great gift we’ve been given and to never forget the sacrifices that were made. But with hearts of appreciation, help us to tell the next generation about the uniqueness of this land, about the value of living life in freedom and not under tyranny, and about the dedicated servants—frail humans who became valiant, noble defenders: O Heavenly Father, that in their memory we would be a virtuous and righteous people. That we would see our freedom not as a license for selfish desires, but as a great responsibility to be cherished, preserved and used for the good. And so that this great nation would not perish from the face of the earth.

Almighty God, we need Your power and Your presence to accomplish this, and I ask for such as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen