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Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May.
On Memorial Day we honor military personnel who died while serving our country, particularly those who died in battle or from wounds sustained in battle.
On Veterans Day, we honor those who served honorably in military service during wartime or peacetime.
Sister Mary Herman Duttlinger, OP, died June 5, 2012, at Finley Hospital, Dubuque, Iowa.
Sr. Marie Rita Waldron, OP, died June 2, 2012, at St. Dominic Villa.
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one already. On one unfortunate day, the art teacher, the science teacher, and the development director of a prestigious Catholic high school all died and found themselves standing before the gates of heaven in front of a less than pleased St. Peter.
The frowning apostle said to them, “It is no secret up here that the three of you never got along on earth and constantly quarreled amongst yourselves. So, in order to get into heaven, you must complete one final test. You must all agree which moment in the life of Christ you would like to see first-hand, and it will be granted to you.”
Cecil DeMille, the famous movie director, was enjoying an overdue vacation at a Maine lake resort.
He was reading a book in a canoe, when he noticed a water beetle crawling up the boat’s side. When the beetle got halfway up, it stuck the talons of its legs to the canoe’s wood and died.
DeMille resumed reading. Three hours later he glanced again at the water beetle. What he saw amazed him. The beetle had dried up and its back began to crack open. First, a moist head, then wings, and finally a tail emerged. Out of apparent death, new life emerged in the form of a magnificent dragonfly.
As the dragonfly dazzled his eyes with its acrobatic flight, Cecil De Mille nudged the dried out beetle shell with his finger. It looked like a tomb.
The water beetle’s amazing transformation reminds us of what happened to Jesus on Good Friday when he truly died on the cross and rose from the dead.
Jesus’ body that rose on Easter was different from the body buried on Good Friday. It was not a resuscitated body, restored to its original life like that of Lazarus or Jairus’ daughter. It was a risen glorified body.
School Sister of St. Francis Catherine Guzy, 87, who served as a teacher, school principal, and an insurance agent, died January 17, 2012, at Sacred Heart Convent, Milwaukee.
School Sister of St. Francis Genevieve (Jonathan) Krantz, 96, who served as a nurse’s aide, sacristan, homemaker, and caretaker for the elderly in the Milwaukee and Madison areas, died November 10, 2011, at Sacred Heart Convent, Milwaukee, Wis.
In modern times, dying is more and more often portrayed as a cold, clinical reality to be kept at arm’s length, relegated to the closed doors of a hospital, almost hermetically sealed from the rest of our lives.
When it comes to the event itself, we diligently work to avoid confronting it, addressing it, or acknowledging it. Because of this cultural backdrop, patients receiving a diagnosis of a terminal illness can be tempted to indulge in unrealistic expectations about what lies ahead, clinging to unreasonable treatment options and hoping for highly improbable outcomes.
