“A Jesuit college might seem like a strange place to discuss a soldier’s mission but, as Capt. Joe Nonato of the Royal Regiment of Canada points out, St. Ignatius of Loyola was himself a soldier. Catholic tradition carries with it many military metaphors and many military saints. Nonato sees no contradiction between his duties as a soldier and as a religion teacher at Toronto’s De La Salle school.
“Nonato, whose family emigrated from the Philippines, says that he joined the armed forces in part because he comes from a military background, but also because he loves Canada and feels a need to serve. ‘The church teaches us that the reason why we’re here is to serve. People have very different vocations that God gives us, and part of my professional calling is the military.'”
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“There are, of course, other frightening possibilities in Afghanistan, but Nonato says that he is not scared. ‘There is the possibility of dying here too. For Christians, death is not something that we fear because Jesus died. It’s not how we die that matters, it’s how we live.'”
