"Bear Your Share of Hardship for the Gospel" (Homily #71)

Carl M. Kube, USNR (Killed In Action, Leyte Gulf, Philippines, 1944)

Homily #71 (Oct. 2, 2016)

Brookdale Vallejo Hills Retirement Home, 10am
(no prepared text)

 

I recently had lunch with Deacon Carl Kube and Deacon Dennis Kummich (sp?) at a recent advanced annulment training week in Sacramento, CA.  Deacon Carl and Deacon Dennis K. told me how the Filipinos in the U.S. were keeping the Catholic Faith alive in many, many parishes.  Deacon Carl also told me of the great Filipino nurses who took care of him recently.  They were amazed at the Filipinos and singing their praises on many levels.

He was celebrating his 25th Anniversary as a permanent deacon that same day I spoke with him at lunch, and this makes him one of the trailblazers for the permanent diaconate in the U.S. after the Second Vatican Council restored it in the Latin rite.  My mere 2 years paled in comparison.

We talked about many things, but the conversation eventually led to us talking about his dad who was killed in action in the Philippines during World War II.  I asked him to send me his picture b/c I wanted to memorialize his dad in cyberspace.

Not only that, I told Deacon Carl that his dad was not just a hero to America but that he was also a hero to the freedom of the Filipino people.  I said that Filipinos make great Americans, and we noted how the U.S.-Philippine alliance was forged in blood and sweat.

I brought this in to talk about the Gospel and the parable of the unprofitable servant.  Many of the elderly in this retirement home were alive in WWII, so it was more than appropriate to talk about bearing hardship for the Gospel.

Oct. 2016 is the 72nd Anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which is considered the largest naval battle in WWII and possibly the largest naval battle in history.





Navy Dept. Citation for LTJG Carl Kube, Sr., USNR (KIA)

"People of the Philippines, I have returned. ...  Rise and strike!" (Gen. Douglas MacArthur, 1944)

Battle of Leyte Gulf Memorial, Philippines

Philippine President Sergio Osmena, government-in-exile, returns.

 

 "People of the Philippines, I have returned.  By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil-- soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples." 







Deacon Carl Kube, Jr., wrote about his dad, LTJC Carl Kube, Sr., who died when he was 3 years old.

"MacArthur" starring Gregory Peck (1977)