Sept. 11 —  Resetting Our Priorities

The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde during his Sept. 11 Memorial Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More.

Sept 11 – again! One year ago, we were shocked, outraged and frightened by the terrorist attacks which occurred in New York City at the World Trade Center, in Arlington at the nearby Pentagon and in the skies over Pennsylvania. Sometimes it seems so long ago that we witnessed such senseless tragedies and, other times, it seems only yesterday. So often, we still think it must be a terrible nightmare from which we shall soon awake. Yet, the reality remains! Sept. 11, 2001, really happened: for survivors and for the families and friends of all those innocent victims so senselessly murdered; for countless rescue workers who risked their lives to help others, for us whose security was violated and whose homeland was invaded, and for people of good will throughout the world still haunted by the memory of those acts of terrorism.

Sept. 11 – again! We find ourselves gathered in prayer now as we did last year soon after the news of such unspeakable horror pounded in our ears and clutched at our hearts. We gather here in this holy place, desiring again to be united with Jesus Christ, whose Dying and Rising is made present in our very midst in this celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Here, we are in touch with the Most Innocent One of all time, who was Himself brutally murdered by the very ones He came to save. Here, we are given fresh strength and new hope to respond to Sept. 11, not with "bitterness, fury and anger," but with the mind of Christ Himself and with His kind of love, which encompasses and integrates care, compassion, forgiveness, justice and vigilance. Those whose lives have been so inalterably changed continue to need our care and compassion. Forgiveness is never easy: we struggle all the more to forgive when innocent people are hurt and indeed murdered. But vengeance can never be the response of an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ. Leaving those who acted with such evil intent to the Lord for His judgment, we continue to seek justice and to promote vigilance. Ours too is the responsibility to root out whatever feeds and increases the mentality of terrorists: discrimination, racial hatred, inequality and injustice.

Our hearts may well be still bitter, angry and fearful today as we remember the evil that was visited upon our country on year ago today, but our readings remind us that, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we must have a different disposition. Saint Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus saying: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ." And, our Gospel reading reminds us: "…whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…". No, we are not called to be "milk-toast" Christians. We rightfully feel outraged over the events of Sept. 11, but that rage must be transformed by the grace of God into an instrument for good. Anger is a natural human reaction to the taking of innocent human life, but we must now ask ourselves some basic questions. What have we done with our anger? Have we let it sour us or have we redirected it into positive actions in the pursuit of justice and peace? Are we trying to respond to Sept. 11 with the mind and heart of Jesus?

Today’s anniversary can be a remembrance of that terrible September day and nothing more, or it can energize us to refocus our attention on the basic realities of life: family and friends, faith and our relationship with God, justice and peace in those real worlds in which we live. This anniversary can empower us to reset our priorities, beginning with the place in our lives which God holds. It is not too late to learn the fundamental lesson framed by the line of a poem I recall from high school days: "The things that mattered most have mattered least." It is not too late to replace the hustle to "get ahead" with the deep desire to tell those closest to us: "I love you."

Sept. 11 last year, a day of infamy! Sept. 11 this year, a day of recommitment to the Lord and to each other, a day of fresh strength and new hope! Why? Because, on this Sept. 11, we pledge to be imitators of God and to live in reconciling love, as Christ loved us – faithfully to the end. Amen.

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