Page:O'Donnell - Hail Holy Queen 05 - All Through the Years.djvu/3

 spotted eight Jap planes on the ground.

"'Hey, Colonel,' he called, 'the General doesn't like Jap planes around here, either. Let me show you what I can do with some 50-mm shells.' Henebry swerved over to the island, made a pass or two over the planes and left all eight of them and the hangers in flames. When he landed at the home base, his own plane was so battered that I ordered it to the junk heap."

General Kenny concluded: "Would you have any trouble judging the value of a boy who goes out on a mission like that and brings his plane and his crew back safely, although there were real difficulties?"

But the General forgot to add that on Colonel Henebry's plane were lettered the words "Notre Dame de la Victoire"—Our Lady of Victory—and that in the cockpit was a medallion of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Only God and His Blessed Mother know how many boys had recourse to her during the war. She was their hope, their strength, and their unfailing comfort. In the light of their example, who are we to be discouraged in this troubled period? Let us derive inspiration from their faith in her and turn to Mary, our hope, as we attack the problems confronting the postwar world. She is our hope, too.

True hope is based on faith in God, because the principal object of hope is happiness, not in this world, but in the next; that is, in seeing God in the Beatific Vision for all eternity. That is why in our earthly struggle for existence we should raise our sights heavenward. But too many of us isolate this faith and put religion in one tiny compartment of our lives, instead of letting it permeate our whole lives. Perhaps we think of religion in the morning and evening, but for the rest of the day, and of the week as well, it is muted—except for an hour on Sunday. I do not suggest that we wear our religion on our coat lapels as we go into the market place, or to the bridge table, because that is the way of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

But we should try to integrate our religion with our daily lives so that we may keep the first and greatest commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," as we strive to fulfill the second of the great commandments, to love "thy neighbor as thyself" (Luke 10:27). This means that we should be considerate, kindly, forgiving and forbearing. If we practice these virtues, we shall fulfill the law and gain God's blessing. We shall become more