For the first time in 11 years, the sun set yesterday with the shadow of a cross spilling out into the Mojave Desert. After a long and bitter battle, the seven-foot veterans' memorial was finally back in its rightful place on Sunrise Rock. For the VFW, Liberty Institute, caretakers Henry and Wanda Sandoz, and everyone who fought to save the Mojave Desert Cross, it was the perfect way to celebrate Veterans' Day. Before a crowd of more than 100, supporters rededicated the cross to the memory of America 's fallen heroes. "Judges and lawyers may have played their roles," said Liberty attorney Hiram Sasser, "but it was the veterans who earned this memorial, and it is for them that it rises once more." For the legal team, the victory was a long time coming. In 2010, after nine years of defending the memorial in court, a majority of justices agreed to keep the cross on its remote patch of desert land. But before the Sandozes could reinstate the monument, it was stolen. Maybe the vandals thought hiding the cross could make it disappear from our collective consciences.
They were wrong. Plans were soon under way for another memorial. In fact, no one knew what had become of the old cross until last week when the San Mateo County Sheriff's office was called to a property in San Francisco Bay--hundreds of miles away. There, police found the object of years of litigation tied to a fence post. The attached note asked someone to contact the authorities. Although the discovery meant that the caretakers could return the original to its hilltop home, they opted for a new cross and a fresh start. Today, it crowns Sunrise Rock--not unlike the millions of crosses marking graves across our nation, each one reminding us of the great sacrifices made on our behalf. On this Veterans Day, we honor the brave men and women across the generations who served, and the many who laid down their lives in America's noblest cause: freedom. It is because of them that we can lift high this cross--and all others.
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...