This coming Saturday will be Sept. 11, 9-11 as it has come to be known since that terrible day 20 years ago when terrorists influenced by Islamist extremism attacked New York City and Washington D.C. 

 

Those of us who are old enough recall the horror and confusion of that day as the world watched live the fireballs and collapse resulting from airliners being flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

 

In Washington, D.C., a plane was flown into the Pentagon. And yet another plane crashed in Pennsylvania. In that case passengers took on the hijackers, preventing a further senseless tragedy.

 

In each incident, all of the airline passengers and crew, innocents engaged in a normal day of travel, were killed. Even more horrifying was the loss of life in the Twin Towers as people were trapped in flames and in some cases even plummeted to their deaths while seeking to escape. Nearly 3,000 people died that day.

 

As sad and as hard as it is, it is good for us as a people and as Catholics to remember what happened that day. There are lessons of faith and of ourselves as a people and a culture that can only be learned by thinking and praying about every aspect of our lives, both the good and the difficult.

 

For example, as New York City became a scene of pandemonium, most moving was the response of all the first responders. In the Twin Towers it was said that while civilians went down the stairs, they passed the police and firemen and women heading up to assist the trapped and injured. Many never returned. 

 

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13).

 

The night after the attack, members of Congress from both parties came together publicly on the steps of the Capitol Building in a sign of unity. 

 

That moment struck many as not simply a shallow photo op. Rather, in our own time of profound and ugly divisions among ourselves as Americans, it stands as one of the last acts of our leadership acknowledging that our common citizenship binds us in gratitude for our blessings and compels us to work for our common good.

 

As Catholics, it was clear in the weeks following that many remained shaken by 9-11. Sunday Masses were suddenly full as they had not been for years. The events and losses of that day taught us once again that our time in this world is not under our control. 

 

God gives us joy and He permits us to undergo sorrows. With His grace all of this is a test for us, collectively and individually. Clearly what happened on Sept. 11 was mass murder. Only a distorted view of God or His total absence could make such acts possible. But we must ask ourselves: what have we learned since that time?

 

In the past 20 years our country has become more divided and angrier than ever, even on a highly personal level. Faith is weaker and Mass attendance is ever diminishing. Our family structures are being weakened. Our society is morally uncertain and confused. And the great lessons of personal sacrifice have begun to fade from memory.

 

Still, even in a world of tragedies like 9-11 and the resulting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, God’s love for us does not cease. We have seen time and again that human strategies and efforts alone are bound to bring sadness and to fail.

 

But a commitment to seeking God’s will, to sacrificing for the good of others, in our families, our neighborhoods and our society, is what brings true peace and happiness. Tragedy often brings clarity and wisdom—something for which we should stop and pray for on the 20th anniversary of that terrible day.