Continuity of Spiritual Care: Military Chapels "Don't Let the Sun Set"

CONTINUITY OF SPIRITUAL CARE: MILITARY CHAPELS

The Six Part Series 

INTRO: What the What?

Part 1: PCS Permanent Change of Station

Part 2: Arrival

Part 3: What’s Life Teen got to do with it?

Part 4: Mission and Miracles

Part 5: Many Parts, Many Hats

Part 6: Bid Farewell, Not Goodbye

CONCLUSION: Don’t Let the Sun Set 

A message for widespread awareness of service member and military family needs from Military Chapels called:

“Continuity of Spiritual Care”

 Welcome back, or welcome if this is your first visit. I would love for you to journey with me in creating conitunity in our Universal Faith. Our diocese is the only one in the world in which the sun never sets. It also serves the smallest percentage of American citizens, our military service members. Let us leverage the amazing faith experiences, Human resource, and the best practices from all over the world in our Military Chapels to create: “Continuity of Spiritual Care” 

Conclusion: Don’t let the Sun Set

Our time in our current duty station has come to an end and I do believe that I will have made my mother (both my Earthly Mother and my Heavenly one) proud. Growing up, my mom always told me to “Leave a place better than when you got there.” She often referred to small things like wiping the counter when you wash your hands in the bathroom, folding the toilet paper into that cute little triangle, or picking up trash on the road as you walk. As we have journeyed in this military life often times it has meant seeing a need and doing our best to fill it. 

            In Heidelberg circa 2011, we, a team of mothers, sisters, friends, and just really cool peeps set out to meet this need. As we did, we were all so monumentally blessed in the process. Making lifelong friends, growing spiritually and personally, and moreover many of us made a pact. Not nearly as funny as the 30 year game of Tag, but still…We committed to being in some way a champion for the Life Teen Movement because of the evidence of tremendous good and the commitment to never let the teens in our parishes go without fundamental faith support. I have taken that call seriously and as I quite literally fly over the ocean and away from our Hawaiian duty station I peer out over the ocean and rest in knowing that we started something that will continue. A reluctant community now embraces the amazing qualities of our teens and adults are shedding their own fears and boldly honoring a call to serve those young men and women who deserve so much.

photo by the Heidelberg High School Alumni Association 2001

The pact doesn’t have an exclusive number of individuals. I invite you to consider, if your parish is lacking something….perhaps it is lacking YOU. God truly equips us for the task and the treasures uncovered along the way are innumerable. In the military we respond to orders, we NEVER abandon a post, and we don’t leave anyone behind. Our faith communities SHOULD be the same. After all, it’s a small world so we just may find ourselves crossing paths again. As a military community, our Archdiocese is the only one in the world in which the sun NEVER sets. Why do we allow our communities to exist with gaps?

Adoration in 2017 with Fr. John Shimotsu JBPHH

Our orders have been changed, again. Most of us have experienced the hurry up and wait and the stand fast rigmarole that accompanies our change of stations. Looking ahead, I find myself saddened that yet again we approach a location that lacks the kind of faith community I know our teenage sons would thrive in. I wonder, why is it possible that our Chapels are missing the marks? Budget cuts, Mission adjustment, and Personnel challenges notwithstanding, I do believe that these are not impossible obstacles to overcome. Afterall, in our Christian faith shouldn’t we remember that “All things are possible through Christ who Strengthens?” Again, recalling what Father Uche imparted on us, “YOU BELONG” I am left wondering. What do I tell my sons? There is something for everyone in the community EXCEPT you? What does that communicate to a generation of men and women that will ultimately be the determining generation of our faith community’s continuation. Or are we to accept the idea that we are a dying breed?

            Fortunately, I believe God has whispered to me the answer. The answer is that we can and should work from a place of hope, abundance, and leverage. We leverage the talents of our parishioners. We become a solution seeking community committed to the ever-brightened nature of our Diocese. We celebrate the unique qualities of our local communities and tap into best practices. We do not have to reinvent the wheel here. We will leave that to DARPA. (Seriously this is cool, check it out). We also leverage what we are good at in the military system, chain of command. Knowing God is on top, that the Holy Spirit is the CSM (Command Sergeant Major) and Jesus is our XO. We then all fall in line and await the orders while moving toward our mission and vision. Simplified this means that I propose to the Archdiocese for Military Service to join me in a vision of support, from AMS in D.C. to every Regional, Area, and Local parish. And I implore YOU, whomever you are…reading this is surely a divine intervention of sorts….to refuse to leave a generation behind because of road bumps. If that were good reason to abandon a group of people I know that I would not be sitting here as an American Catholic woman because St.s Peter and Paul would have kicked the dust off their sandals long before the kerygmatic truth of this awesome faith were to have reached my 16 year old tennis shoe loving self some 20 year ago. The point is, all of this, each part of this series is inspired by one (dare I say) Holy and Righteous desire to provide opportunities for us all to encounter Christ in our journeys all over the world. 

            Together, let’s do this thing. Let’s get knowledgeable on the What’s of the Whats and the whys that go along with it. Let’s get connected and consistent for our PCS explorations and get the welcome right for our new Arrivals. Let’s leverage talent by recognizing the wicked cool awesomeness of the Hats we wear, and Train those willing to venture into new territory in their answer to God’s call. Let’s consider Life Teen and the WHO of it all. Let’s take care never to say goodbye, to Farewell and not forsake. Let’s work together to provide a Continuity of Spiritual Care that will bless those that serve, their families and all who encounter us as we seek to succeed in our role as missionary disciples, as new evangelists and as a people of God.

You in?