From the Desk of Fr. Schaller - April 12, 2020

Jeremiah Denton (died 2014), former Senator from Alabama (1981-87), had served 31 years in the Navy, retiring as a Rear Admiral in 1977.

While flying a combat mission in Vietnam, he was shot down and captured. He spent nearly eight years as a POW (in the “Hanoi Hilton”), four of which were in solitary confinement. His Catholic Faith enabled him to persevere through great suffering and torture. On this Easter Day, I present for your meditation and encouragement this poem that he wrote while in solitary confinement.

The Great Sign
(a conversation after Jesus’ crucifixion, but before His resurrection, between three women: Joanna[1], Mary, the mother of James[2], and Mary Magdalene[3])

1.His manger birth drew kings in awe, His smile the former blind men saw,
In Him divine and mortal merged,
Yet He’s the one the soldiers scourged.

2.He praised the humble and the meek.,
The grateful deaf mute heard Him speak, His face was love personified,
Yet He’s the one they crucified.

3.Now our tears with doubts combine, How could He die yet be divine?
We must dispel this faithless gloom, Let’s pray at dawn beside His tomb.

​Dark clouds can hide the rising sun, And all seem lost, when all is won!

Do not be afraid! Christ is Risen, Alleluia! He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

May God bless you!
Fr. Schaller 

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