Ideas
- A gathered group of young adults might watch the movie The Hurt Locker together and pay particular attention to the scene when the main character returns from deployment, goes to run an errand and finds himself stuck in the grocery store aisle. His two worlds collide: they do not go together and he has great difficulty reconciling the differences. A long discussion about this scene could focus on integration, relationships, where he feels most comfortable, and what accompanying such a soldier might look like.
- Purchase and view together the webinar/DVD Parish Support for Veterans: How Can We Help.
- Find additional resources on the National Catholic Partnership on Disability website.
Help
- Welcoming Veterans Home website from the Archdiocese for Military Services.
- Living in the New Normal — a program from the Military Child Education Coalition, which includes a faith-based perspective and attempts to mobilize communities to reach out to military members, veterans, and their families, especially those who have deployed.
Recommends
- “Bringing Vets Home” issue of Health Progress, the Journal of Catholic Health Association of the United States.
- “Hidden Wounds” by Dr. Nancy Sherman at Georgetown University, America
- “Can Service Save Us,” by Joe Klein, TIME
- Veteran’s Prayer (PDF)
- Closing Prayer (PDF)
- Welcoming Veterans Home Planning Resource (PDF)
Watch
- A video from the Diocese of Metuchen that held a similar session to the one detailed in this Step-by-Step Program to launch a ministry apostolate to serve veterans.
