Delighted so see EWTN recently aired
a film on the life of Father Vincent Capodanno, the Grunt Padre. Tomorrow marks
the 50th anniversary of his death in Vietnam.
His dad emigrated from Italy and met
his mom in Brooklyn. They married, and later, they moved to Staten Island. They were a wonderful Italian family – center was
family and faith. On Vincent’s 10th birthday, his dad suddenly died,
and his mom had 9 children to care for. All pitched in. As Vincent grew older,
he began to think on the priesthood – as a missionary. He entered Maryknoll in
Ossining and was ordained in 1958. He was sent to Taiwan for 6 years, and then
to Hong Kong. But he was not settled. He wanted to go where he was really
needed. He asked permission to enter the Chaplains Corps. In April 1966, he was
sent as chaplain to the Marines in Da Nang, Vietnam.
There he became the best known and
most sought after Chaplain. They called him the Grunt Padre because he was one
of them, with them everywhere. While serving his Marines, they noticed his deep
respect for the Vietnamese people. He never picked up a gun, but he was engaged
in warfare – for the souls of all he met.
On this day, today, 50 years ago, he
offered 3 Masses for his marines. Then he went with them to battle. They were
vastly outnumbered that day. It was said that if you received 3 purple hearts,
you would be sent home. First, Father Vincent was wounded in the hand. Later,
the shoulder, Finally, while trying to help a corpsmans, he was shot 27
times. He was sent home. Later, for
trying to save so many lives that day, he would receive our nation’s highest
honor – The Medal of Honor.
Peter said – no crosses – Jesus says,
sometimes you must pick up your cross and follow me.
So many crosses – so many that we all
carry – sickness, money, care for elderly, children, work.
We continue on – we pick up our
crosses and keep going!
Sixteen years ago, a Franciscan
priest preached a homily to a group of firefighters, men and women who see and
carry the cross each day.
He said: “That’s the way it is. Good
days. And bad days. Up days. And down days. Sad days. Happy days. But never a
boring day on this job. You do what God has called you to do. You show up. You
put one foot in front of another. You get on the rig and you go out and do your
job – which is a mystery. And a surprise. You have no idea when you get on that
rig. No matter how big the call. No
matter how small. You have no idea what God is calling you to. But He needs
you. He needs me. He needs all of us. Father Mychal Judge, first casualty 9/11. His
last homily – 9/10 2001.
Jesus told Peter – get behind me – we
get behind Him – we get behind Jesus as we carry our crosses – for we know that this is the way that leads
to the kingdom.
