“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you….Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid.” Jesus, in St. John 14:27.
“He told me that on VJ Day, they were told to line up their vehicles on the shore as a show of victory. He said he hoped the Japanese nearby had also been told that the War had ended – otherwise they would have been sitting ducks!” Gnr S Perkins, Field Artillery, quoted by his son.
Today’s reflection is the letter beneath from Sister Mary of the Angels, an Irish nun living in the Far East during the Second World War. She writes to reassure Mrs. Orford, the wife of a soldier who has been helping with the repairs needed to the Convent, that her husband is in good health and that they may be reunited in the near future. The letter is a remarkable testimony to the circumstances and sentiments of the time and is an authentic voice speaking across the years to us today as we, in our own troubled times, face similar challenges and the same need for courage and faith. The print can be enlarged but, if it’s not possible to do this and it’s too small to read easily, please go to ve-vjday80.gov.uk and search in the letters section for Sister Mary to the wife of a soldier who had helped repair her convent.
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.