A number of people asked for the text of my homily last weekend. I hope that it is helpful to you.
Homily, Tenth anniversary of 9/11
To observe an anniversary is not to relive the original time. We are here to rise – people whose belief in Jesus Christ tells us that the true believer, the true liver of the ways of Jesus, will never be kept down. We can look to 9/11 with tears and sadness, but we can also look to it now with defiant hope, and defiant faith, and a defiant belief that we are meant to survive – and we will survive. We will rise.
After 9/11, so many people resolved to live different kinds of lives –and especially to show gratitude to others for what they mean to them. People resolved to pray more…Ten years later, changing our lives for the better still has the same urgency – and when will we get the point! Jesus asks us to change our lives. We need to be reminded of this. We’re human. We revert back. Maybe now is the time to ask God to help us change – so that we might be worthy of all those who were killed, those who have died in working for freedom, and those who have suffered so that we might be free.
Ten years ago, I shared some suggestions for how to live. I share some of them again today. Boy, I wish I had practiced more what I preached.
So, for you and me – here are some simple ways to change;
In your life, in your home – stop keeping things hidden away and never or seldom used for a special occasion. Every day you live is a special occasion. 9/11 reminded us of that.
Put more time into your family and friends – eat your favorite foods (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise), perhaps in moderation, but eat them nonetheless. Visit and recall the places you love.
Life is not only about survival – it is about celebration. This is why God created the heavens and the earth. Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy. Remember – we believe in a God who told us that the Kingdom of Heaven was a great banquet –a great party. Prepare for it. Party poopers may not be ready for the Kingdom of Heaven. Start to prepare and to celebrate now.
Jesus told us that, when you celebrate, you prepare the fatted calf. Why do we limit celebrations to Christmas and birthdays and anniversaries? Why not light candles each day on your table when you come to eat; why not use your special things that mean the most to you? Why not wear your favorite clothes? Do not save things for the best times or those special times, but for every time you feel you want to wear them.
Take out of your vocabulary phrases like “one of these days” and “someday.” Does God want us to miss so much that is good and so much that is wonderful in our lives? You and I have a moral obligation to be happy. That is what “blessed” means? What do we do each day? Sure, life can often be a struggle. To say – be happy – is not simply a mindless slogan – it is a major part of our faith – and our trust in God. We must make being happy and celebrating each moment as important as all the things we do that just may not last and, in truth, really do not matter.
Make the call or write the letter or e-mail to connect with friends and strangers that you need to value. How tragic when we put off or postpone or think that we can do it later. Often we do not. Now we must do it. 0/11 reminded us of this.
Do not delay anything that adds laughter and love and joy to your life.
What priorities guide your practical decisions and relationships? Stephen Covey reminds us that we cannot let the critical and urgent replace the important; we cannot allow wonderful things to be pushed aside by schedules and activities that, a month or year from now, no one will even remember or miss.
Unless we become people of abundant joy and great rejoicing, then terrorists win – because they diminished our dreams. They did not let us rise. But, if we change, if we celebrate each moment and day and time and relationship - - then nothing can defeat us ever – not death, sickness, germs, violence – nothing. Why? Because love is stronger than death. The goodness found in our hearts and celebrated consciously, deliberately, and defiantly in our lives will change the face and course of each of our lives and our world – and our future. We will rise.
In his album, The Rising, Bruce Springsteen probed the meaning and lessons from 9/11. His songs were written from the victims, families and heroes whose lives were changed forever on that fateful day. The song The Rising tells the story of a firefighter.
Springsteen said that “One of the most powerful images of the 11th, that I’d read in the paper, some of the people coming down were talking about the emergency workers who were ascending. The idea of those guys going up the stairs, up the stairs, ascending, ascending. I mean you could be ascending a smoky staircase, you could be in the afterlife, moving on.” In religious terms, this is dying and rising with Christ.
Here are the pictures his song paints:
Sky of blackness and sorrow
Sky of love, sky of tears
Sky of glory and sadness
Sky of mercy, sky of fear
Sky of longing and emptiness, a dream of life
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life, a dream of life
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight.
This is why we are here ten years later - to come up for the rising; to defiantly refuse to be made afraid, to humbly be willing to change; “Come on up, Lay your hands in God’s – and come on up for the rising tonight.”