September 11, 2011
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September 11th
Ten years ago it was Tuesday and I was a senior in high school. I was in College Prep English class and someone said they heard that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. I thought surely it was due to bad weather and told them about a time decades ago when a bomber plane accidentally crashed into the Empire State Building; perhaps a similar accident occurred. Soon it was time to go to my choir lesson and as my lesson was finishing I mentioned hearing about the plane crash to my choir teacher, adding, “As cruel as it might sound, I think it would be pretty cool to see a jetliner crash into a building.” (I now know that it isn’t cool at all.)
On my way back to class a student in the hall said, “Hey, did you hear that a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center?” “Yeah, I’ve known for like an hour.” “Wait, no, this one just happened a couple minutes ago.”
…
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, why?”
I ran back to my choir teacher and as soon as I opened the door I saw him and the middle school band teacher standing by the radio with pale faces and mouths wide open. I ran back to my English class and threw open the door.
“Turn on the TV!”
We didn’t learn any English that day.
****
Fast forward ten years; I’m an entirely different person, and I live in an entirely different world. Everything changed so fast. But not everything changed.
Ten years ago it was Tuesday in the 24th Week of Ordinary Time, and here we are again in the 24th week. The readings at Daily Mass on that Tuesday were as follows (I think; I had to do some calculations!):
The First Reading: 1 Timothy 3:1-13
Beloved, this saying is trustworthy:
whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task.
Therefore, a bishop must be irreproachable,
married only once, temperate, self-controlled,
decent, hospitable, able to teach,
not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle,
not contentious, not a lover of money.
He must manage his own household well,
keeping his children under control with perfect dignity;
for if a man does not know how to manage his own household,
how can he take care of the Church of God?
He should not be a recent convert,
so that he may not become conceited
and thus incur the Devil’s punishment.
He must also have a good reputation among outsiders,
so that he may not fall into disgrace, the Devil’s trap.Similarly, deacons must be dignified, not deceitful,
not addicted to drink, not greedy for sordid gain,
holding fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
Moreover, they should be tested first;
then, if there is nothing against them,
let them serve as deacons.
Women, similarly, should be dignified, not slanderers,
but temperate and faithful in everything.
Deacons may be married only once
and must manage their children and their households well.
Thus those who serve well as deacons gain good standing
and much confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus.(We see here some wise and holy guidelines for the kind of person a leader ought to be. Oh if we’d had such a “bishop” for our nation and “deacons,” too! But we were content for the most part, and everything seemed fine.)
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 101: 1b-2ab, 2cd-3ab, 5, 6
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
Of mercy and judgment I will sing;
to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.
I will persevere in the way of integrity;
when will you come to me?
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
I will walk with blameless heart,
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
any base thing.
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,
him will I destroy.
The man of haughty eyes and puffed up heart
I will not endure.
R. I will walk with blameless heart.
My eyes are upon the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in the way of integrity
shall be in my service.
R. I will walk with blameless heart.(Goodness wasn’t this our attitude in those days? We could do no wrong. We were blameless in our house; we looked not on base things, we were not haughty…)
The Gospel: Luke 7:11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst,”
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.(And Jesus journeyed to New York City, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, hundreds who had died were being carried out, the sons and daughters of many mothers and fathers, the spouses of many now made widows and widowers. A large crowd from the city came with them. When the Lord saw the crowd, he was moved with pity for them and said to them, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the ambulances and the stretchers, the ashes and the ruins; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Men and women, I tell you, you are risen, and a day shall come when you shall walk with your mothers and fathers, your children, your spouses.” Fear seized the crowd, for they knew those words but could not at the time believe them, yet they turned to God amid the ash and smoke, exclaiming, “Oh that God was in our midst, that He would visit His people in this hour!” And news of what had happened spread through the whole of the country and in all the surrounding world.)
While no one going to early morning Mass before work ever anticipated the preparation these readings would offer us that day, today’s readings, I think, absolutely strike to the heart in a way only God could have known. Yet these readings were chosen even then, even decades and maybe centuries ago, all part of the liturgical cycles of the Church, unchanging even in the midst of horrible human atrocities and devastation. While sitting in a beautiful basilica hearing these readings, I could not help but thank God; we all need to hear these words (though, sadly, because of canonical differences, many of my Christian brothers and sisters may never hear the first reading in their places of worship!).
The First Reading: Sirach 27:30-28:7
Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.
The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance,
for he remembers their sins in detail.
Forgive your neighbor’s injustice;
then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.
Could anyone nourish anger against another
and expect healing from the LORD?
Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself,
can he seek pardon for his own sins?
If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath,
who will forgive his sins?
Remember your last days, set enmity aside;
remember death and decay, and cease from sin!
Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor;
remember the Most High’s covenant, and overlook faults.The Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.The Second Reading: Romans 14:7-9
Brothers and sisters:
None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.
For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
For this is why Christ died and came to life,
that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.The Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Comments (20)
That was beautiful Jacob. How did you ever manage to recall the exact readings that were done on that day?
Today I was watching the 9/11 memorial services until it was time to leave for Mass. I didn’t get the chance to review the readings before Mass. Therefore, I didn’t realize what the Gospel was until the Deacon read it. I was transfixed. Today’s Gospel is the first Gospel that was read at the very first Mass I went to with my daughter at Temple University’s Catholic Newman Center. That Gospel haunted me all the back to NJ (from Philadelphia). The Lord opened my ears to hear when I heard the Gloria that morning, and realized that the Roman Catholic Church honors Jesus as the Most High God. I was so amazed by this that I listened to the readings and the homily very closely. By the time I got back home to NJ, I knew I had found the church for me. I needed that kind of teaching in my life. After three years of attending Mass, I entered RCIA and became a Catholic on April 10, 2004 (at the Saturday Easter Vigil Mass). I am really thrilled that you put today’s readings on your site. Forgiveness is paramount. God cannot bless us if we carry grudges. It has been my spiritual task ever since that first Mass, to quickly confess and abandon bad thoughts towards others. I even forgive the Islamist extremists who attacked us on 9/11. With our nation so divisive and filled with political vitriol, it is important for us to remember the values of forgiveness and charity.
@ZombieMom_Speaks - Well the liturgical calendar and the readings are all set in a cycling pattern, so I looked up the date for Ash Wednesday of 2001 (Feb. 28th) which meant Ordinary Time before Lent ended on Week 9. Pentecost, which ends Eastertide, was June 3rd, so that was also the beginning of the 10th week of Ordinary Time. Then I just counted the weeks until the week of September 11th, which came to the 24th Week of Ordinary Time. Since 2001 was an odd-numbered year the readings came from Cycle 1, and then it was just a matter of looking in the Lectionary.
Trust me; it makes sense to me! I just hope I didn’t miscount! But I didn’t go to Mass that day; back then I wouldn’t have wanted to anyways. Had I gone, and if my calculations are correct, these are the readings I would have heard, though, and the readings every Catholic who went to Mass anywhere in the country (and the world I think) would have heard as well.
@ZombieMom_Speaks -
The readings for Mass are in a three year cycle: Year A, Year B, and Year C. You can count backward from the current year, and there are also sites where you can see which cycle goes with what year. If you have missals with all three years in them, it’s easy to find which reading went with what date in a particular year. I’ve been Catholic for 7 years now, and I read the daily readings every day using my missal. After a time, you get the rhyme and rhythm of the readings. They are always telling the story of God’s history of salvation, and kind of a consistent background to the Liturgical Seasons.
@Ancient_Scribe -
I tried my own explanation of how you figure it out. Between the two of us, I hope it makes sense!
@Amythist_Malaise - , @ZombieMom_Speaks - Or you can just go here and click the appropriate day on the little calendar to the right!
http://usccb.org/
I have an app for my Droid ‘phone, called “iMissal”. You can move through the calendars with it, too. I highly recommend it. It also has Scripture verses for the day. You can read the readings, use the audio to listen to them, or use the video feature to watch the Mass. It was only around $6, and it is worth every penny!
@Ancient_Scribe - @Amythist_Malaise - Thank you both. Catholicism is a tad more complex than I remember. But then, it’s been a long time.
Forgiveness is so important to moving on, but it’s so hard. Particularly when the loss is personal, as in this case. I didn’t personally lose someone but know people who did and it breaks your heart.
God is faithful before we knew we needed him!!!
I remember getting up and ready for school. I missed the first plane by a few moments, but I watched the 2nd one. I ran to school that day, and my grade 7 teacher said there were no classes that day, that we would just be watching the news.
My class watched both towers fall.
And ALL the theories, interviews, home video clips etc… afterward too.
I was thinking during mass that the readings were incredibly appropriate for the day. We sang America the beautiful and Our Country Tis of Thee for entrance and closing
@lucylwrites - I just love it when the readings seem like they were picked out precisely for what was going on in the world; I’m glad you do, too.
@tgwiy - I only missed the first plane by moments too. My husband called and told me to turn on the news.
“What channel?”
“ANY channel.”
My youngest child was only about two weeks old at the time and I stood frozen in our living room, eyes riveted to the tv until the little bundle in my arms squeaked to be fed. I saw when the other planes hit and when the towers fell. By the time the Pentagon and Shanksville were hit I was just numb.
My daughter has autism and never slept very much, even as a newborn. I held her and watched CNN all night long. By the end of that first week I was probably the most well-informed mom in the US, and scared to death.
Happy Birthday!!
I went to Mass on Sept 11th (the 10:15… no matter how hard I try, I never make t to the 8 o’clock!) and I read thru the readings just before Mass began (it helps me understand it a little better. I don’t know why, but it does.). I thought, “Wow. This really FITS.” And Fr.’s homily that day was extra-good. He is always good but that day, well, it just seemed like he worked reeeeeeeally hard on the homily. I think a lot of people present left a little bit softer in the old chest area.
Mercy and Forgiveness are such beautiful things.
@SamsPeeps - Yes it’s awesome when a liturgy just fits perfectly like that!
@Ancient_Scribe - Something similar happened to me last year. Just around Advent, I began reading a book by Archbishop Fulton Sheen (I think it’s called Life of Christ, but I can’t remember for sure now). It seemed like, no matter where I was in the book, when I went to Mass that week, the readings sort of coincided with what I’d been reading. That was when I was attending the early dismissals, and I remember feeling like I was really “getting” it, like I could contribute to the conversation, thanks to A.F.J. Sheen!
The Catholic Church is so biblical.
the little “Jesus going to New York” vignette: I’m looking for a word to describe it: “Profound.” “Insightful”. That doesn’t quite do it, but you catch my drift. Maybe “Inspired” works best.
@wrybreadspread - It was something that kind of kicked in spur-of-the-moment; it just seemed to fit so well. I’m glad that you enjoyed it!