12 books in 12 months: "The Miracle of Fr. Kapaun"

   There was a time in my life that admitting to only reading 12 books in one year would've been embarrassing to me. In fact, if I am honest, I realize it still is a bit embarrassing to me. I love to read. Sadly this throughly enjoyable activity all but went by the wayside in 2014. So I'm starting small. 12 books in 12 months. I should be able to handle that!  

    I just finished reading the first book of the year "The Miracle of Father Kapaun: Priest, Soldier, and Korean War Hero".  

    One of my favorite lines in the book is as follows:  "When you save somebody's life, you might save an entire nation, you never know."  LOVE THAT!

    Father Kapaun grew up a farmboy in Kansas.  He was ordained a priest June of 1940 in Wichita at the age of 24.  After four years as a parish priest he joined the US Army chaplain corps. He served in India and Burma from 1945 to 1946. He reenlisted in 1948 and in 1950, a month after North Korea invaded South Korea, he volunteered to go to Korea as a chaplain.  He died as a POW in North Korea May 23, 1951 and he is being considered for canonization as a Saint.

  All who served with Fr. Kapaun were impressed by his courage in assisting the wounded and attending to dying men on the battle field.  Witnesses to his valor stated that no one would run into the fray with such little regard for personal safety and at the same time with such encouraging shouts to those around him as Fr. Kapaun.  As a POW he is attributed as having saved HUNDREDS of lives simply be refusing to stop assisting the wounded during death marches and pleading with the officers and enlisted men to do the same as well as instilling hope and helping others in the prison camp.  He led by example, often choosing to do tasks no one else wanted to, which inspired men to desire his leadership. More than anything, that which impressed me about Fr. Kapaun was that he chose to be a gift of hope to those around him.  He kept himself busy finding ways to encourage, comfort, and speak truth when conditions were deplorable, morale was low, and hope was all but lost.  It was sobering to read of the awful treatment they endured.  Many of the survivors revere Fr. Kapaun as the man responsible for the fact that they survived. In many cases it was because he spoke an encouraging word at just the right time, lent a helping hand, created reasons for them to live. The survivors speak of how easy it would have been to give up the will to live, and of how many had done just that and died.

   It is my sincere hope that I can emulate this man in his willingness to lay down his life protecting others, in his ability to encourage others when he himself was suffering terribly, and to choose the menial tasks as a way of lifting another's burden.  Fr. Kapaun's entire time as a Catholic Priest appears to be an effort to put others needs before his own and to forgive - even those that capture and persecute you. He laid down his life with his final words still trying to encourage and instill hope.  Fr. Kapaun, pray for us!