Honoring Our PARISH VETERANS for Living LIVES OF STEWARDSHIP

As we walk down the streets of our cities and towns, the great majority of us feel relatively safe, comfortable, and free. This sense of security, however, is not something we should take for granted. Much of it has been won for us by the blood, sweat, and tears of our veterans. At our parish, we are blessed to have several veterans among us, including Bruce Trolli, John Perry, Patricia Livingston, Dominic and Mary Federico, George Kochik, and Brent Woerner.

Coming from all walks of life, they joined the military for different reasons.

“Needing help with college tuition, I enrolled in the Army Student Nurse program and became an Army Nurse after graduation,” Patricia Livingston says. “Army Nursing, as a caring profession, was a natural outcome of my faith, which calls us to care for and serve others, including members of the military and their families. After seven years, I left active duty but continued in the Reserves for several more.”

Throughout their time of service, many veterans have felt that the presence of God was with them in a mighty powerful way — one they will never forget.

“When deployed to Iraq, I carried the same pocket Bible that my father took to Korea,” says Brent Woerner, who served as Commander of the Willoughby American Legion. “It was over my heart every day I put on the uniform. I knew that if I had it, God would be with me every day. Having weekly Mass gave us time to reflect and pray as well.”

Looking back, veterans such as George Kochik believe that prayers offered for them on the home front were more than answered.

“I spent almost eight years in the Navy — two years serving in schools; three-and-a-half years of sea duty; and two years of shore duty in the USA,” George says. “Even though the ship I served on was built for duty in Vietnam, I was fortunate not to serve in a war zone during my time in service. To this day I believe my parents’ prayers helped change the ship’s destination overnight from Guam/Vietnam to Naples, Italy.”

Furthermore, by giving themselves most generously in service to our nation and our world, they discovered the true meaning of stewardship in an extraordinary way.

“As far as stewardship goes, being in the military taught me discipline in both my personal and professional life,” Brent says.

As a sort of “training ground” for their heart, their time in active service helped them grow in charity, a virtue which they continued to practice long after leaving the military.

“To this day, I continue to provide time and talent to the church by volunteering with various functions and ministries,” Brent says.

According to Patricia, the desire to help others didn’t fade away after she left the Army.

“After I finished up with the Army Reserves, I continued serving as a nurse in the civilian world for over 30 years,” she says. “Then after retiring, I found myself wanting to continue to serve. Two members of this parish invited me to join them in the Society of Mother Teresa, so I did. And my love of singing brought me to the Adult Choir. Thus, I am continuing to give some of my time and talent to stewardship efforts.”

Amazingly, some of them even find opportunities to reach out to other veterans in need.

“Today, I volunteer at our local hospital (Lake West Medical),” George says. “There, as a veteran, I am honored to visit the veterans we serve in order to thank them on behalf of the hospital staff for their service to our country and to spend time visiting with them. Our volunteer ladies and gentlemen knit, crochet, or quilt patriotic red, white, and blue blankets which they give to the veterans along with their prayers for their speedy recovery.”

As we celebrate Veteran’s Day this November 11, let us keep our veterans in our heartfelt prayers, that God may bless them for all of the heroic sacrifices they have made for our beloved nation.