"And so, this morning we come to bury Myke Judge's body, but not his spirit. We come to bury his voice, but not his message. We come to bury his hands, but not his good works. We come to bury his heart, but not his love. Never his love."
Fr. Michael Duffy, at the funeral of Fr. Mychal Judge
Today, on the twelfth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I read a reflection on Fr. Mychal Judge, the Franciscan chaplain who was the first casualty pulled out of the rubble that dreadful morning. There are still lessons to be learned from the attacks of 9/11, and the one for me today is love. Fr. Mychal Judge was not a perfect human being. He struggled with alcohol himself, so he ministered to people in AA. He loved the poor, so he ministered to people on the street. Fr. Mychal was open and honest about his weaknesses, so you know what God did? God used those very weaknesses for good! There is strength in our weaknesses, once we recognize the weaknesses and ask God to help us. Then God can do what God does so well...turn our weakness around into good. So, today, as I think and pray about 9/11, I'm going to dwell on the love. The love that Fr. Myke showed everyone he came into contact with in his beautiful ministry. The love that propelled that good priest to run into the building with the firefighters, that day, to see who he could help. The love with which his own firemen carried Fr. Myke's body out of the rubble and placed it in a church. It's only about the love today, Friends. Love, heidi
If you want to see a good documentary about Fr. Mychal, see "The Saint of 9/11." If you want to read more from the homily and more about Fr. Mychal, here is a good link:
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