On Tuesday, November 11, at 7:00 p.m., please join me online for a Veterans Day Holy Eucharist and Commissioning of Chaplains. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe will preside, and the Rt. Rev. Ann Ritonia, bishop suffragan for Armed Forces and Federal Ministries will preach. The link for the service can be found here.
Our military veterans are as diverse as the people of this nation. They have served in many ways, in many places, and hold many points of view. Beneath that vast diversity runs a deep current of shared experience - stories of courage, loss, loyalty, and love that have profoundly shaped our country.
As a chaplain in the United States Navy, I have the honor of listening to the voices of many veterans, some steady, some trembling, telling stories of faith and doubt, trauma and healing, devotion and endurance.
As a church, we are called to listen to these voices and stories with compassion and reverence. In doing so, we honor not only those who have worn the nation’s uniform, but also the sacred truth they carry; that solidarity and sacrifice are not abstractions, but living realities that bind us together as the Body of Christ.
There are roughly 18 million veterans in the United States today - fewer than 7 percent of our adult population. Their numbers may be small, but their wisdom is immense. Fewer and fewer of our civic leaders have firsthand military experience; fewer still understand the weight of obedience, the discipline of command, or the depth of communal trust forged in danger. The church can and must be a place where that wisdom is welcomed, honored, and shared.
Veterans understand community, the kind that stands firm when comfort falls away. Veterans understand covenant, the solemn bond that holds through trial and cost. Veterans understand command, and what it means to follow orders born of love: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” And veterans understand sacrifice not as metaphor, but as the costly offering of self for others.
When we learn from our veterans, we learn again what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Their witness calls us beyond sentiment into service. In a culture that often glorifies conflict yet avoids listening to those who know its price, the church’s task is clear: to be a community of deep listening, of peace that does not forget the battlefield, and of faith that embraces both strength and vulnerability.
There is a wonderful hymn we sing at the cathedral which connects the quality of loving service that our veterans represent with the promise of our citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test
That lays upon the altar, the dearest and the best
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice
And there's another country, I've heard of long ago
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know
We may not count her armies, we may not see her king
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering
And soul by soul, and silently her shining bounds increase
Her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
On this Veterans Day, may our listening deepen, our gratitude widen, and our love grow stronger. May we honor those who have borne the weight of service and may we, in our own way, take up their sacred work of peace.
Semper Fidelis,
Michael+
The Very Rev. Dr. Michael Sniffen, LT, CHC, USN
Command Chaplain, Empire Battalion, United States Marine Corps