Healing the wounds of war

A living hell – far from home, shell-shocked and under fire. The life of a soldier on the battle field or the officer struggling to keep the peace on the green line is a lonely one, full of the unknown – death, injury and raw fear. Will I ever see my family again? Where amidst this hell, can there be a God?

These are just but some of the pressing anxieties and questions members of the armed forces must live with at war – and too, the living phantoms of their fears and horrific experiences that continue to haunt them upon their return home.

Often, many in the armed forces turn to their chaplains seeking answers to life’s most difficult and existential questions- queries like: What happened to the merciful, the loving and forgiving God we’ve come to know? Why has God forsaken us? Even those who don’t believe turn to chaplains, hoping for a word of comfort, of support.

To mark the end of World War I at the eleventh hour of the eleventh month in 1918, many countries established an Armistice Day – a special national holiday to remember their war dead and veterans. In the U.S., it’s called Veteran’s Day – in the U.K., it’s Remembrance Day.

“It’s important that a nation stand behind its troops and support them in prayer”, says Bishop Richard Moth who heads the Catholic chaplaincy for the armed forces in Britain.

And these remembrance days help remind us of the causes and injustices of war so that future generations will not repeat the errors of their predecessors.

“So many of us, in every level of society,” Bishop Moth says, “have never known the ravages of war for ourselves. It is difficult, perhaps impossible for us to understand all that our service personnel and their families are experiencing… may none of us forget that the greatest act of remembrance we can make for those who have given their lives in war, the best witness and support we can give to those who bear the scars of conflict, either as service personnel or their families, is to strive for justice and truth – for justice and truth drive out fear and are the foundations for lasting peace”

Listen to full program: