This Monday is Memorial Day, a holiday on which we remember in a special way all of the men and women who served in the armed forces and sacrificed their lives protecting our country and its freedoms. It was originally a day to remember the lives lost in the Civil War, but it was eventually broadened to encompass all wars and armed conflicts. Sadly, there have been many of them over the course of our nation’s history.

A recent news report explored reasons why, to date, there is such a large difference in the number of deaths due to Covid between the United States and Australia. Tragically, the U.S just marked 1 million deaths. However, Australia’s death rate for the same period is one-tenth of America’s. The report acknowledged that differences in geography and other factors unique to each country could account for some insignificant differences in outcomes. However, one observation noted a more significant difference, that Australia’s approach to Covid, generally speaking, has been stricter. And, from many interviews, survey data, and scientific studies from around the world, one lifesaving trait surfaced among the Australian people from top level government to local hospitals: they trusted in the science and institutions, and especially in one another.

The recent leak of a draft of an opinion from the Supreme Court about overturning Roe v. Wade has engendered much consternation and outcry leading to rallies that support “women’s reproductive rights to choose.” It’s sad to note that this focus is solely on the woman without any acknowledgement of the human being growing within the woman’s body. I’ve noticed over the years, that there has been an increasing disregard for the unborn child from what was once an attitude that abortions should be “safe, legal and rare.” Now, there’s a more cavalier attitude of “my body – my choice” in all circumstances, which really denies the regrettable and heart-wrenching reality involved. It’s called “my baby” only when it’s wanted. It’s not surprising that such truth is being denied in a culture that now allows persons to twist reality to fit their own ends.

It was 34 years ago today, May 8, 1988, that our “new” church building on Tremont Street was dedicated. The Catholic community had outgrown the much smaller church on St. George Street, which was later sold and transformed into the Ellison Center for the Arts, a campus of the South Shore Conservatory. Our present church building has suited our needs well, accommodating the growth our Catholic community has experienced over the years.

Do you remember your First Holy Communion? Sadly, I have only vague recollections and they focus on the ice cream we children enjoyed in our parish school hall after the Mass. It’s an important and pivotal moment in the lives of our children, not merely a rite of passage as a cultural Catholic.