I had the opportunity to offer Mass this past Tuesday, September 11th. I think it is so important that we never forget that day, and the sacrifice that so many make by serving in the military, or serving on police forces, in the fire department, or as paramedics. May we never forget to pray for them. And may we also remember and pray for those who lost their lives that day and for those who continue to grieve over lost loved ones. Here is the text of the homily I shared on 9/11:
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Six years ago I had just started seminary. Late in the morning, I was sitting in a philosophy class, and someone mentioned something about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Like most who first heard about what happened, I wasn’t sure what to think at first, until I looked at a TV that numerous other students were looking at in one of the hallways, staring in disbelief at the smoldering remains of the two towers that had become a fixture of the New York skyline.

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives on that fall morning. And on that day, we saw humanity at its worst and at its best. As the president reminded the nation last year, on that day we learned that the enemy, driven by a perverted vision of Islam, is evil and will kill without mercy. But we also saw ordinary people who became heroes that day as well. People like Todd Beamer, the passenger aboard United flight 93 who uttered the famous words “let’s roll” when leading a passenger revolt that attempted to take back the plane, which was likely headed for the White House. People like William Rodriguez, who was employed for some 19 years as a maintenance worker at the World Trade Center. Rodriguez single-handedly rescued 15 people, as he was the only one with a master key on the site to the stairwells in the North Tower, and bravely he led firefighters up the stairwell so people could be saved. He re-entered the towers three times, and is believed to have been the last person to leave alive. And people like John Roccoslava. Roccoslava had been recently laid off from his job of arranging window displays; he had a small one-room apartment not too far from the WTC site, but had no TV or radio and bare walls where he’s lived for nearly 30 years. As people panicked and cell-phone service remained spotty, he invited people to come up to his apartment and use his phone, and as such, scores of people were able to call loved ones to let them know they were okay. The list of heroes that day goes on and on; among the dead were nearly 400 rescue workers who were just doing their job, quietly saving lives.

But the danger is that as time passes, 9-11 can become forgotten. I saw a copy of USA Today yesterday, and indeed the headline was “Is 9-11 becoming just another day?” A woman from Minnesota, Eloise Barnard of Good Thunder, stated in the column that “there’s politicians who are trying to keep it alive” and that it was an “unfortunate thing” but that “it’s time to move on.”

Well, with all due respect to Ms. Barnard, 9-11 was much more than an “unfortunate thing.” It reminded us that evil is alive and well in the world, and that every day just as some worked tirelessly to put Jesus to death, and how many strived to persecute the early Christians to death to crush out the message of love and hope Jesus had brought, some out there work every day to crush out the freedom and liberty we enjoy as Americans, and are driven by a hatred of freedom and all we cherish.

The president reminded the country last year that the war against this enemy is more than a military conflict. He stated that it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century, and the calling of our generation. And whether you love the president or can’t stand his politics, I think he is right in that assertion. Saint Paul reminds us in our reading this morning, “see to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy,” and I think one of those that is most captivating is to think that evil doesn’t exist. Hence, as we enter the sixth year since the attacks, people begin to forget the date, because thinking about it is unpleasant. Or, when we see a Bin Laden video on TV, we flip over to the ball game, because thinking about such things makes us uncomfortable. As such, the “war on terror” is seen by some not as some ideological struggle, but something that is just rhetoric of politicians. But if we really believe that, I think we miss the reality that evil is alive and well in the world. Some branches of Christianity speculate as to when the anti-Christ will arrive, but one professor of mine remarked that every generation often has its anti-Christ. And indeed, he was right. Whether you are talking about Nero, Hitler, Stalin, or Bin Laden – until the end of the world as we know it – evil will always be out there to motivate some. The evil one rejoices in pulling people away from God; and as we hear in the prayer of Saint Michael the Archangel, the evil one does indeed prowl about the earth seeking the ruin and destruction of souls; perhaps not in a red suit with a pitchfork, but perhaps using a young German corporal who eventually would cause the death of 6 million Jews; or as a tall, thin Saudi-born militant Islamist who orchestrates the death of 2,974 innocent people on a fall morning in New York – people who did not freely worship the devil, but people who have been seduced by the message of evil.

On this day, the 11th of September, six years after one of the darkest days in our nation’s history, may we never forget. May we never forget the thousands of women and men who get up every day to go to serve and protect us, wearing a blue uniform and a badge; the people who run into a burning building to save a life; the people who administer CPR to a heart attack victim in the back of an ambulance; the people who quietly get on a transport plane to go to a war zone for their third tour of duty, and the people who continue to grieve over the loss of their loved ones six years ago. And May God bless America, and always keep our nation in His loving embrace.