Metropolitan Methodios offers Invocation at 48th Annual Memorial Day Service at Gardens Cemeter
On Monday May 30, 2016, Memorial Day, His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios offered the Invocation at the 48th annual Memorial Day service at the Gardens Cemetery. Present were Mayor Martin J. Walsh and The Honorable Sean J. Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. His Eminence offered the following invocation:
Almighty God, we reverently pause today to pay tribute to our veterans who served our nation with valor and courage. We bow our heads in solemn prayer mindful of the supreme sacrifice of brave men and women throughout our history who believed so deeply that men and women should live in dignity and freedom. We are thankful for the sacrifice of our servicemen whose lives were offered as freedom’s shield. May their sacrifice speak to each of us of strength that is increased by its spending. Of life that is saved by its losing. Of greatness that is measured by its serving. Help us to realize that none of us can know peace and comfort if others do not know hope.
O King of Peace, captivate our hearts, inflame our spirits, mold our ethos, inspire our minds, guide our actions, enable us to be more true to ourselves and to you.
We pray for our Nation’s leaders. Bless them to be peace-makers. Grant then the wisdom to think and act with clarity and courage. Grant that the light of freedom in our land may never grow dim.
Help us to comprehend – just as our veterans – that freedom’s light is holy, and apart from knowledge of and faith in your sovereignty, it will flicker and fade. Strengthen our hand as it clasps the hand of another and another until we too have caught the indelible wisdom of a new earth where all nations stand before your throne as a family where peace and love reign.
May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all as we depart from this Memorial Day Service to return to our communities to manifest the love of God in our nation.
