Invocation for the Bicentennial Birthday of President Grant, Grant Monument Association dinner, April 27, 2022, Union League Club, New York City, New York, by Fr. Raymond A. Akeriwe, S.M.A., Chaplain (Capt.), U.S. Army Garrison (U.S.A.G.) West Point:
Lord, on this bicentennial birthday anniversary of President Grant, we give you thanks for the blessings and the lessons of his life. We thank you for his wisdom and stewardship of this nation. You choose leaders, Lord, and in him you gave America a scrupulously honest leader. A man of peace as proclaimed in his famous slogan “Let us have peace.” Yes, Lord, in you alone do we have peace. We ask it today most especially in a world that knows so little of it. We gather as a nation full of gratitude today, as children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, in awe and admiration of a servant leader, who gave from what you gave him. Bless now his legacy, may it continue to inspire and guide and instill in us and generations yet to come a love for this nation, a desire for sacrifice and pride in service to this great nation.
Bless this gathering Lord. May our sharing be nourishing. May our interactions be inspiring as we all make our individual effort to uphold the values our ancestors worked so hard to establish.
Bless our speakers tonight. Bless the new friendships we make and bless, Lord, our troops, especially those in harm’s way tonight. May their sacrifice never be in vain.
With grateful hearts, we pray you, Lord, grant President Grant eternal rest, and may his legacy live on.
May he rest in peace. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Amen.
