Alleluia (Jn 15:5)
R. Alleluia, alleluia. 
I am the vine, you are the branches, says the Lord:
 whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.
 R. Alleluia, alleluia.

To be rooted in Christ is the challenge of the Christian life. Saint Martin of Tours is very famous. He was a soldier who abandoned the military to become a Christian. He is the first non-martyr to be officially canonized by the church. His feast day marked the end of the Great War, or as it became known, the First World War. As my grandmother taught me, this day was known as Armistice Day. The peace began “at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month,” in the year 1918. My grandmother’s favorite brother (my great-uncle) Charlie Goetting, was gassed in the trench warfare, and later died of his injuries at home. Before he died he gave his pocket watch that he carried in the war to his little sister (my grandmother). She, in turn, gave it to me to treasure. Today's photo is of my great-uncle Charles Goetting. His name appears on the Doughboy Monument in Leavenworth, KS.