A Crisp Tuesday Morning

        On a crisp Tuesday morning with weather, not unlike today, I took a rather unexpected walk up Rhode Island Avenue in DC with strangers.  We were walking from the business section of our Nation’s Capital to a Metro Station.  The streets will filled with traffic. Strangers stopped to offer us rides.  It was quiet.

        And then, the sounds of a plane cause us to jerk our collective heads up to the sky.  Oh, not a plane, but a helicopter. With a sigh of relief, we continued our walk. 

        This was not a normal Tuesday morning, but September 11, 2001.  We had been sent home from our offices after the plane crashed into the Pentagon.

        On that walk, I heard a person begin to sob.  She said, “One of the towers has collapsed.”  I immediately began to pray for the people in the tower.  I also had an image planted in my mind of thousands of angels hovering at the site of the Twin Towers, catching the souls of those who were dying that day.

        Many may remember the Franciscan priest, Father Mychal Judge, chaplain to the FDNY who was among those who ended their earthly lives that day.  This morning, I used a portion of his homily from the day before as a prayer.

        You do what God has called you to do. You get on that rig, you go out  and do the job. No matter how big the call, no matter how small, you have no idea of what God is calling you to, but God needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us. God needs us to   keep supporting each other, to be kind to each other, to love each other….        We love this job, we all do. What a blessing it is! It’s a difficult, difficult job, but God calls you to do it, and indeed, He gives you a love for it so that a difficult job will be well done..        Isn’t God wonderful?! Isn’t He good to you, to each one of you, and to me? Turn to God each day -- put your faith, your trust, your hope and your life in His hands. He’ll take care of you, and you’ll have a good life. And this firehouse will be a great blessing to this neighborhood and to this city. Amen.

        Good words to pray, no matter what our professions or stages in life.  He will take care of us and we will have good lives!

May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.  Saints from 9-11, pray for us!