IN FAITH
On the Anniversary of September 11, 2001 by Bishop John M. D’Arcy
The first anniversary is upon us. The terrible sights and sounds are coming at us again.
They are accompanied by feelings of love and compassion for all those who were killed in Washington, New York, and Pennsylvania. The firefighters and the police, the husbands and the wives, the widows and the widowers, and the children suddenly without a mother or father are in our hearts once again.
ONCE AGAIN WE MOURN
And we learn, learn again that there is a power of evil in the world and that while blessed with freedom, one of the gifts that makes us in Gods image, we can misuse this freedom and inflict great harm. Once again we learn also that men and women are blessed with the capacity to choose the good, as so many did on that terrible day, reaching out to save others. Once again we reflect on the prayers people made as they passed down those dark corridors, including the ancient prayer of the psalmist, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil. His rod and His staff, they comfort me.”
ONCE AGAIN WE RECALL THE BEAUTIFUL GIFT OF LIFE
As we go again to our churches, let us pause and give thanks for God’s gifts. The gift of family. The gift of work. The gift of community. The gift of life.
As we saw life swept away in a few moments, may this anniversary cause us to respect human life, to love children, to love our country and those who serve her and to reject violence and sin. I invite everyone to join me in prayer. Faith expressed in prayer to God, who is the Good Shepherd, whose focus is not death, but life, is the best way to commemorate this human tragedy. In faith we know that the God of love is on the side of life. We keep in mind the words of Pope John Paul II, “The followers of Jesus Christ know that evil will not have the final say.”
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