Twenty-three years have passed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We know that for many families, the pain of losing loved ones in such a senseless act of vengeance and hatred lingers for a lifetime. I can’t help on this anniversary but think of a family from my hometown whose husband and father was killed that day, leaving a wife and three sons behind. Those boys would be nearly 30 now, perhaps husbands and fathers themselves. Losing their dad at such a young age: how did it shape them into the men they have become?
At the heart of our journey through life is the mystery of the Cross. Suffering touches all of us along the way, and it can either crush us or transform us into people of compassion and courage. Christ’s own Cross – the instrument of our salvation – has freed us to be women and men who know that despite the pain and heartache of tragedy, evil does not have the final say. The victory is always God’s, and we conquer in His Name through His Cross.
This coming week, as we pause to remember the victims of 9/11 and their loved ones, the Church also celebrates the feasts of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) and Our Lady of Sorrows (the 15th). Both days remind us to be a people who cling to and hope in Christ, and that we are never alone in our struggles and pain. The Lord who bore the weight of our suffering also gives us His own Mother to stand at the foot of our crosses, too, in order to comfort and guide us.
Let us make an effort in the days ahead to pray for all victims of violence and hatred of every kind, including the unborn, the sick and elderly, and those who are abused and mistreated in countless ways. May they know that when they suffer, Christ suffers alongside them; they are never abandoned by Him and His Church in their hour of deepest need.