“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:1-2
Vincent Capodanno was born on February 13, 1929, in Staten Island, New York. He was the tenth child of Italian immigrants. After nine years of intensive preparation in theology, academics, and basic survival tactics to fulfill the order’s mission to “Go and Teach All Nations,” Vincent completed his seminary training and was ordained in 1958. In 1960, he went to Taiwan and became the director of a youth hostel for young Chinese men preparing for the national college entrance exam.
Six years later, he sensed God’s call to become a U.S. Navy Chaplain. In the spring of 1966, Chaplain Capodanno reported to the 7th Marines in Vietnam. As the chaplain for the battalion, his immediate focus was the young enlisted troops or “Grunts.”
On the morning of September 4, 1967, Lieutenant Vincent Capodanno was part of Operation Swift, a mission to rescue two Marine companies which had been ambushed in the Que Son Valley. During the operation, Capodanno’s battalion was ambushed by a large North Vietnamese Army. When he heard that two platoons in a company of his battalion were under attack and in danger of being overrun, Capodanno rushed to assist them. He ran through the intense enemy fire so that he could administer last rites and give medical aid. As he aided the Marines, Capodanno was wounded over and over again by enemy fire, yet still, he continued with his duty. It was when he was moving to aid another wounded Marine the chaplain was cut down by machine gunfire. He was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor, for laying his life down for others.
The Lord wants to do great things in your life, but you must be willing to sacrifice your goals for God’s glory. Today in prayer, praise Jesus that when we live for Him, we are blessed.
“Leadership is an act of submission to God. To be a leader means listening to all kinds of people and situations. Out of that listening, we are hoping to discern the mind of God as best we can. This is the price of leadership - it's an act of sacrifice. So leadership is part and parcel of the work of submission to God.” – Richard Foster
God’s Word: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” – Ephesians 4:1
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