I’m not going to reflect on the gospel we’ll hear at mass this Sunday. I’ve chosen to think about September 11, 2001 instead. It was nine o’clock in the morning.
I was walking across One Police Plaza to buy a bagel from a vendor. I looked up and saw thick black smoke billowing from one of the towers. A policeman was standing there so I asked him what happened. He told me that a plane had just hit the tower. He masked his feelings, but I knew he was shaken. My first thought was that everyone above the fire line would never make it to safety. I didn’t buy a bagel; I hurried back to the rectory. As soon as I entered another plane struck the second tower. It was clear what was happening.
The months after the attack, while our government forces began a campaign of retaliation and destruction that continues, sadly, to this day, New Yorkers touched the divine light. There was shock and deep sorrow, but throughout the city people spontaneously reached out to each other. The daily subway ride became an opportunity to be kind to someone. People gave up their seats to first responders. The elderly and the infirm were helped into their seats. People called out “thank you” to firemen and policemen. There was a wonderful sense of kindness and community. We were working with and for each other. We didn’t take each other for granted. And it felt so good! Really good! The financial capital of the world became, for many months following 911, the city of compassion and caring. The city of light.
It has been 25 years since that terrible day. Let’s wake up again. Let’s look at the people around us and see our brothers and sisters. Let’s heal our world with God’s forgiving and healing light. Let’s reach out with love and compassion not only to our fellow New Yorkers but to all our brothers and sisters throughout the world. We don’t have to wait for a catastrophe to let our light shine. We did it during the months after 911. Why can’t we shine every day? After all, we’ve been called to be light for the world.
A LITTLE PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Lord make me an instrument of your peace. Where there’s despair in life let me bring hope; and where there is darkness only light. (The Prayer of St. Francis)
