Recognizing Veterans

Your parish may have a history of recognizing military veterans on Veteran's Day, November 11th. Build on that and show appreciation and care for veterans throughout the year to send the message that the parish truly knows their congregation and values them and their sacrifices. We do not think you need a formal reason to include a Universal Prayer at Mass thanking veterans and seeking protection and peace for them, but there are plenty of significant days to choose from including the birthday for each branch of the military and each reserve branch, days and months recognizing families and families of fallen soldiers, and days of remembrance for significant days in military history. Here is a list of possibilities. 

Universal Prayers

• For military veterans with injuries, visible and invisible, that they lean on God and experience spiritual healing through his love. 
• For persons struggling, especially veterans who sacrificed to protect freedom and now face challenges returning to civilian life, that we as a congregation can accompany them towards internal peace.
• For each veteran of our nation's armed forces, that he and she feels deeply appreciated and supported by their community. 

Additional Prayers

Additional Ideas

• Ask a parishioner who is also a veteran (or military spouse or child) to write a few paragraphs on their experiences for the bulletin. Better yet, engage some youth and use an interview format.
• Post messages of appreciation on social media.
• Use NCPD's Infographics to raise awareness of issues related to veterans with service-connected injuries.
• Encourage participation in color-coded recognition days. On Friday wear red to Remember Everyone Deployed and on August 7 wear purple in honor of Purple Heart Day.