On September 11, 2001, I was up early and answering e-mail. Suddenly, several people were sending messages about some problem happening in New York and that buildings were being hit. I sent a prayer that way and went on with my morning correspondence but the messages continued and suddenly it wasn’t an accidental plane crash but something much, much worse. I immediately turned on the television and news crews were rushing to their stations and reporting before getting made up for their television footage. It didn’t matter because the news continued and it progressed to horrific. As I and my four children watched, the second plane hit the World Trade Center and soon we saw in crumble to the ground like sand. Almost 3,000 people died who had gotten up that morning with nothing more in their minds except beginning the day and getting to work.
Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger airliners and used them to target the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Flight 93 United Airlines was heading to Washington D.C.. The passengers, like true Americans, attempted to overcome the hijackers which resulted in the plane going down into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
In all, as mentioned, almost 3,000 people died in the attacks. This death toll included 227 civilians, and 19 terrorist hijackers. Among the deceased were 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers.
We face another anniversary of that September day on September 11, 2014 this Thursday. This date on the calendar now includes the memory of the deadly attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, where four more Americans were brutally murdered. Once again, the date looms and I don’t thing there are many people who don’t remember and wonder . . .
This year, however, we not only have Al-Qaeda but Isis, Hamas, and Hezbollah all contemplating world domination. Not only should be remembered those who died but pray that no others ever face this.
Prayer for Peace
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
–St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
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