Today is Saturday of the Twenty Third Week of Ordinary Time. Today is also September 11th, 2021. All I really need to write is that today is 9/11. In the 20 years since that fateful day, the simple writing of 9/11 has come to convey much. We immediately think of the images of the planes striking the towers, of the collapse of the buildings, of first responders and victims covered in soot and ashes. I think of the cars remaining in otherwise vacant lots waiting for their owners who were never to return to them. Stories of subways flooded with rushing water claiming the lives of citizens and heroes saving countless lives. While I understand that the term “Ordinary Time” in the church refers to how we number these weeks, I still cannot think that on this solemn anniversary, nothing has been ordinary since that day 20 years ago.
When researching for this reflection I could not help but read Jesus’ parable of houses built on rock in comparison to those built with no foundation, then think of the fall of the north and the south towers. But the parable was not a commentary on construction techniques. Very few buildings were built on as solid a rock foundation as were the twin towers of the World Trade Center. But they still fell. No, if we want to see examples of what Christ was referring to that day in His Sermon on the Plain, all we need to do is look at the actions of a few of His creations.
Welles Crowther was a securities trader in the WTC on that day. He came to be known as “the man in the red bandana”. Crowther made his way to the Sky Lobby on the 98th floor of the South Tower where he took charge in getting people to the stairwells and to safety. He carried an injured woman, on his back, down 15 floor to safety. He has been credited with saving over a dozen lives. They found his body amid the rubble of one of the stairwells.
Tom Burnett, Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick and Mark Bingham. These four were among those on Flight 93 headed to Washington DC that morning. Through calls with family and friends they became aware that the hijacked plane they were on was likely part of a wider terrorist plot. They decided to act and with other passengers acted to get control of the plane away from the hijackers but, in the process, caused it to crash into a remote field near Shanksville, Pa. All on board perished.
Rick Rescorla was a Vietnam veteran and worked security in the south tower. When Flight 11 hit the north tower he evacuated 2700 people to safety just moments before the second plane hit the south tower. He was last seen on the 10th floor looking for survivors. His body was never found.
Former Marines Jason Thomas and Dave Karnes saw what was unfolding in Manhattan that day on TV and, without hesitation, made their was to the rubble of the complex. Each independently reached the site and miraculously found each other. Upon hearing cries for help they directed rescue personnel on an 8 hour mission to rescue 2 New York Port Authority police officers trapped beneath concrete and steel. They spent the next 2 weeks working at the site helping to rescue others.
A neighbor of my Mother in New Jersey found himself in the flooded subway tunnels between New Jersey and the Trade Center Complex that day working to get people to safety.
These are the foundations of rock that Jesus’ spoke of. Foundations that caused people to think not of themselves but on the safety of others. Putting themselves in obvious danger to help others in need. Mary Ortwein wrote on Monday of what it means to “offer up suffering”. I submit that these heroes of 9/11 epitomize what that phrase means. No greater example of Christ using suffering to save others can be seen other than in the actions of Welles, Rick, Tom, Todd, Jeremy, Mark, Jason, Dave and Vinnie on that day. As well as scores of others who we may not know of.
We recognize a good tree by its fruit. And the fruit on that September morn was ripe and sweet.
