23rd Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - 9/11, Suffering, and the need for Christ

 In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, congress passed a bill requesting that the President designate September 11 of each year as Patriot Day. The U.S. flag is flown at half-staff at the White House and on all U.S. government buildings and establishments throughout the world; flags are also encouraged to be displayed on individual American homes. Additionally, a moment of silence is observed to correspond with the attacks, beginning at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

This terrorist attack was a great source of suffering for our nation, not to mention the victims and their families. I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the first plane striking the North Tower. I was on my way to class with a group of seminarians—a philosophy class called the philosophy of the human person, in which we were examining man’s intellect, soul, mind, body, and free will. And certainly that day, we received a terrible lesson of man’s capacity for evil, his ability to inflict suffering on his fellow man.

St. Paul wrote about suffering in our reading from his letter to the Colossians today. Paul suffered prison, shipwreck, beatings, starvation, and exhaustion, and ultimately death for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And Paul doesn’t curse God for his sufferings, or even complain about them, rather he writes boldly, “I rejoice in my sufferings” and goes on to explain that he saw his sufferings for the sake of the Church as gifts from God because they enabled him to understand more deeply the love of Christ.

Fulton Sheen was fond of saying that, the great tragedy in life is not suffering, but suffering that goes wasted, suffering that we do not allow to bring us closer to God.

Following the September 11 attacks the churches were packed. Our nation rightly responded to evil by falling to our knees, not simply praying to God to alleviate suffering, but to help us to learn, so that evil may not be repeated. “Never forget” was the motto in the months to follow. Let us never forget what evil can do.

And yet the lesson of suffering was only headed by some. Instead of drawing closer to God, repenting of sin, uniting to Christ through his Church, many dug in their heels to building a culture of death. Instead of stretching out the withered hand to Christ, they clutched all the tighter at perversion, greed, and power. But such is the pattern of sinful man, when he refuses to grow in wisdom—if he doesn’t fall for one empty promise, he’ll fall for another until he lives for Christ. 

And so the Church’s task in 2023, is the same as St. Paul’s and that of every age, to preach Christ and him crucified, for He is our only salvation and hope, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That through Our Lady, Queen of Peace, terrorism and war, and the cheapening of human life may be brought to an end.

That our civil representatives may use their authority to lead and build our nation in godly ways.

For all those who harden their hearts toward God, for those who have left the Church, for all those in serious sin, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster and inclement weather, those who suffer from war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, the imprisoned, the unchaste, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families. 

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.