Fr. Ben's Message 9/4/2022

I will never forget says the Lord

It is now twenty-one years since the horrific and cowardly attacks of September 11, 2001.

Anyone who lived through that day remembers it clearly, vividly, and with a great sense of

sadness. Through the presence of all forms of visual media, we were able to have a front row

seat and watch horrific things happening, in real times, as they say. However, as graphic and

awful as these images were, it seems to me, that the more lasting memories, more impressive images, and the true sense of 9/11 was not captured by the horror, but by the honor. The honor of our brave citizens who knew that to give a life is always better than to take a life. To die saving someone is honorable, while to die killing the innocent is not.

On that terrible day, evil did its worse, but it did not overcome good. The image of dusty

firefighters carrying limp bodies and injured people from the rubble; images of doctors, nurses, paramedics, on the streets cleaning wounds and bandaging the injured; the images of brave police officers, emergency personnel, and even ordinary citizens running into burning, crumbling, falling buildings to search and save men and women who were not strangers to them, but brothers and sisters. This is the heritage of 9/11. The image of priests, ministers, rabbis, chaplains, and even a cardinal, encouraging and praying with the brave, anointing the living, and providing rites for the dead were captured on that day. These images are the lasting true legacy of that terrible day.

These are the things God saw that day and these are the people God will remember and

reward. For, even though we forget, God never forgets the good we have done, and He never tires of loving those who love.