September 11th 15 year later

So today is the 15th anniversary of that infamous day.  A day that many Americans remember living through.  For me I guess I now know what the generations before feel like with the end of the World Wars and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  I've watched the generations after me not understand why we are somber today.

If you have read this blog, you know that my brother, being the smart ass he is chose 9-1-1 as their wedding day because it was a Saturday and well everyone will remember the date.  Last night we were out to dinner and my 14 year old niece said, "why did you pick 9-11 for your wedding?" Both my brother and I responded with it was a joke 9-1-1 to which she said "you didn't think the terrorists would think the same thing."  In her innocence and being the first group of kids to have not been alive when 9-11-01 happened makes the statement funny, but it also says something about how her generation has grown up.  There has always been talk of terrorists, what they did and what they will do and when will they do it again.

I don't know if it's because I'm old or just emotional anyway, but today was the first time I nearly cried during my pastor's homily.  Maybe it was the fact that 15 years have past, that I had just watched the picture of Dennis McHugh scroll across my tv; maybe it was finally realizing that his parents are with him and his mom got her wish of having a body to bury.  I guess the focus has always been on the sacrifice of the FDNY that day, they did lose 343 souls from their ranks.  I guess because John Gallagher's Mass was a memorial Mass, that I don't think about him as much which is odd, because I actually knew John, well I was Peter's little sister so everyone knew me, but I do remember being in their apartment/house when I was little.  John's body was not and never will be recovered as he worked for Cantor-Fitzgerald and he was hopefully gone in a few seconds.

Tonight we watched the CNN special 9-11 Fifteen Years Later. The film maker spoke of seeing people on fire walking past him and I went immediately to the memories of the fire at Seton Hall.  I often wonder what in the world possessed me to go wash my car 15 years ago, but I really think it was the Holy Spirit saving me from having those images burned into my brain.  I have a very vivid memory and I rather tell the silly story of I was washing my car instead of saying I was watching TV like the rest of the world.

My family has happy memories of 9-11 as yes it's the day my brother got married, without that wedding I don't have a niece or nephew acting like goofballs making their family laugh.  So yes 9-11 holds many memories.

My cousin by marriage (she's still a cousin) shared a picture of her husband (then boyfriend) from ground zero on facebook and it made me think.  Maybe it's because they are both close to retirement that I look back and say, dear God, that could have been us.  I watched NYPD funerals and said, that family could have been us.  I forget that I know a good few first responders, many of whom were in NYC 15 years ago.  Maybe that's it. I lived through the day, saw the aftermath, watch the smoke billow from the towers stood.  Yes there is a giant building there now, but it's not the same and nor should it be.  I guess like the rest of NY that was here that day, we've moved on, still standing, still fighting, still knowing we are a target, but also giving a big ole classic F-U to the terrorists.

That fight isn't won, and it won't be while we still fight.  the irony of my f-u and moving into the idea of peace isn't lost on me.  My pastor spoke of how the stories in the Gospel today spoke to us about how peace is what is needed in the world and yes that is far easier said than done.  I did find his comment of once the US beats you in a war, we are the first to offer an hand to help you up.  He's right we'll kick your ass and then help you clean up the damage we did.  I remember a good few years ago a chaplain from West Point saying "you have no idea what Iraq is like, it is better off now."  From studying scripture and other religions it's clear that war is never the answer, but Jesus' idea of peace is.

I know 15 years ago we were all go get 'em, get the bastards. 15 years later we're still fighting terror and neither side is winning, but I'd like to think our side is on the winning side.

May those who died 15 years ago continue to rest in peace, and may God continue to bless our first responders, military, fire fighters, police and EMTs.

Archbishop Dolan

I'm working on my Easter Homilies post but for now I'm going to comment on Archbishop Dolan's installation.

Thanks to American Papist for the link to the picture stream from Archbishop Dolan's installation ceremonies.

These are in no particular order as there was no set order to the way the pictures came up on Yahoo.

In the first picture that comes up, Archbishop Dolan reminds of Cardinal O'Connor. Having lived 14 out of my almost 30 years in the Archdiocese of NY, Cardinal O'Connor was my bishop. I never truly realized what I had until after he died. My mom lays claim that Cardinal Cooke is from the same area of Galway that her family is that that quite possibly we are related. I was honored and grateful to see Cardinal Cooke be mentioned in Archbishop Dolan's homily. Cardinals Cooke and O'Connor were champions of the respect life movement, and it's nice to see their successor seems to have come out with guns ablazin'.

Watching the local New York media coverage of the Mass annoyed me, as I hate when the "reporters" talk about something when I just want to watch the Mass. They talked over the Psalm reminding us that the Hispanic population is growing with in the Church in NY. Channel 5's (the local fox station) annoyed me by not knowing the difference between a catherda and a cathedral. My mom pointed out that it could have been a simple mistake, and I said yes then the priest who was there could have said, it's the seat, the catherda, that allows Archbishop Dolan to speak laws, not the cathedral. I know that I know more than most Catholics so I caught that mistake, but again talking over the Psalm, not translating the readings that were not in English (maybe that was an oversight at the Mass booklet was available on line.

Anyway, having read Archbishop Dolan's homilies and seeing the press releases via the Archdiocese's web page and seeing AMDG and JMJ on the top page of the press release, makes me smile as I have hopes that Archbishop Dolan will not be quiet on matters of a "political" nature and that he will stand up for and defend Holy Mother Church, and I think he will do just that. I switched over to EWTN's live stream on the internet as I just couldn't take the talking over Mass, it was a beautiful ceremony and what I remember is how thankful, humble and sincere the Archbishop was. My mom and I watched the first 30 minutes of the replay on EWTN last night (we only get EWTN for a few hours a day) before it cut over to the Protestants and their "Praise You Jesus, send my church money" show. I had watched these 30s minutes via the local media and you missed a lot about Timothy Dolan. What you saw and heard was the new Archbishop standing watching nearly 900 priests walk past him and you heard him say time and time again "thank you brothers, thank you for being hear, I need you, pray for me." He even commented "what priest shortage" all this was missed because the local media cared about his fancy vestments, things he as to worry about, and commenting that he called the Cardinals and Bishops by their first name(really I don't hear my parish priests calling each other "father", they call each other by their first name, the same way we do with our family, yes it sounds strange to us, but really it was not worth pointing out.) I was deeply moved by how easily the Archbishop said thank you to his priests and how happy he is. He says that he wants to be a happy bishop and I think the pictures below show him to be just that a happy bishop.

The Archbishop asked in his editorial in the New York Daily News for us to pray for him. He asked parents and teachers to have children say a Haily Mary for him daily as he knows children's prayers are more powerful. I will attempt to pray daily for Archbishop Dolan and for the rest of the bishops including my own bishop, Arthur Serrateli, and the many priest who have entered and touched my life over the past 30 years.
















In one of these pictures you see Archbishop Dolan reaching out to help the priest who happened to trip up the stairs, I think that speaks for the Archbishop's demeanor and character. I also notice what seems to be a very devout man who loves the ritual and traditions of Holy Mother Church.

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD ARCHBISHOP DOLAN! May God bless you and grant you many years as the Archbishop of NY, and may that fiery Irish spirit that is within you hearken to the likes of Fulton Sheen, Terence Cooke and John O'Connor.

Archbishop Sheen, Terence Cardinal Cooke, John Cardinal O'Connor... pray for us!