This week, we commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
I was in my first few days of seminary and remember watching it unfold on a TV in a hallway at Saint Thomas, and then back in my dorm room. If you remember that day, it’s one of those days we all know where we were.
But from the horrors of that day, there were also so many incredible stories of the far greater power of hope and love that emerged.
For instance, there was the story of Fr. Mychal Judge, a longtime Franciscan priest and chaplain for the New York City Fire Department. He became the first certified fatality of the 9/11 attacks. He was with the firefighters to give them comfort and aid, and he was the first body to be taken out of the rubble. He saw what was going on that day and ran to the scene to help. It had been something he’d been doing for years, growing up in Brooklyn, eventually becoming a priest, and lived in a simple room which he was rarely in, because he was always doing ministry. Some 25 years prior to 9/11, Fr. Mychal was also bringing hope to people the world was afraid of – AIDS patients – anointing them and also sitting at their bedside to spend time with them and celebrating their funerals. Becoming a chaplain, he would be with firefighters in challenging times, he was always giving counsel and support to people in very difficult moments.
It was also just a little over a week ago that we marked 1 year since the tragedy at Annunciation School; but from that day too, so many stories emerged of hope. For instance, Weston Halsne and Victor Greenawalt, both 10-year-old fifth graders, narrowly survived the attack. When shots rang out, Greenawalt threw his body on top of Halsne and took a bullet for his friend. Halsne still wound up with shrapnel lodged in his neck, needing surgery because the shrapnel entered dangerously close to his carotid artery. Thankfully, both boys recovered.
It gets at something that I remind myself of over and over again, of the goodness in humanity.
In the face of tragedies like we faced, we all ask that question, “where are you God” or “why?”. In Christ, we see the God who stands by us, who humbles Himself to be born as one of us and to die as one of us. It changes the understanding of human suffering when we look to the Cross; all of our answers will be answered one day down the road, but when we look to that Cross, we see love, but we also think about how death and suffering do not have the last word, for Christ is victorious over that.
How do we continue the fight on this earth? By not giving up. All of us, me included, get sick of the things we see all around us daily; from the cruelty of people towards one another, the thoughtless actions of people, the greed and ways we treat one another. But a deeper look reminds us we can be people of hope – people who do not give up on the world, but choose to make a difference. And may we never forget what a difference we make when we do those simple actions of love and mercy. A prayer for a loved one, or better yet, with them. A phone call to say “we haven’t talked in so long” or to re-connect. An olive branch extended to end an old feud with someone in the family. Seeing past someone saying they are “fine” and sensing maybe they aren’t fine because of what they are going through at school or work or in life. Showing up at a funeral. Inviting someone to Mass. A conversation over a meal. Showing forgiveness. Giving of your time to help out your neighbor with their shoveling or bringing in their groceries. This list goes on and on, but you add them up, and they bring hope into the world, one person at a time.
While there will always be evil, hopefully we look deeper and see that God does give us an answer to it – that we are loved and not alone – and also that when we look in the mirror, we have such power to be agents of hope and love who reveal that love through our actions.
God bless and have a blessed week,
Fr. Paul
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September 6, 2026