Pastor’s Reflection

Heroes

September 11^th remembrances over the last fifteen years evoke the names of two brother Franciscan Friars…who loved God, fire and peace officers, medical first responders and poor people.  I have both of their pictures in my office.  They bless my interactions with people and keep me focused in the midst of the day on what really matters.

The first was local. Fr. Blaise Cronin, beloved teacher at St. Mary’s High School and long term guardian of the Franciscan community had such a great love for the sciences and for all the alumni who found themselves in careers with the Phoenix Fire Department.  I am told he loved to bet on the horses.  And he was good at it.  His winnings more often then not, paid off the tuitions of students like myself, who could not pay their bill. He paid attention to their dramas and their families and lingered lovingly over the details.

The second is New York’s Friar Mychel Judge, the first to give his life at the attack on the World Trade Towers. He brought a holy humanity to his friar life, recovery to his addictions and amazing availability to the downtrodden –  those who could not pay their bills.

Michael Ford ‘s biography published in July of 2003 had some remarkable details of what heroism is. It is a gift of the Creator.  It is about being in the right place at the right time.  It is about responding from the heart first.  It is about paying attention to those who can’t pay their bills. St. Luke’s Prodigal Son story of this weekend says God is like that.

New York Police Officer Jose Alfonso Rodriquez was one of the four men who carried Fr. Mychel’s body from the burning tower that day. He remembered later how they improvised a “last rites” for their friend and left his body in the church. The photograph is called the “9/11 Pieta.”   The impromptu ritual was, in fact, entirely in keeping with Father Mychel’s own definition of hero… hallowing the moment … and immortalizes the way remarkably ordinary people generated light in the darkness of that day.”

Fr. Mychel’s rendition of AA’s Third Step Prayer moves me each year again as we invoke the names of all those who lost their lives that day.

Lord, take me where you want me to go.
Let me meet who you want me to meet.
Tell me what you want me to say,
and keep me out of your way. Amen

A gentle week,
Fr. Michael Weldon, OFM