25th Anniversary of 9/11
Basilica of the Assumption
September 11, 2026
Those of us who are old enough will never forget 9 / 11, 2001. It is seared into our hearts. We remember where we were, what we were doing, who we were with when we heard the news: planes crashing into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, a plane headed towards the White House brought down by courageous citizens over Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Even those not old enough to remember must never forget! 9 / 11 should break our hearts. For we ponder lives ended so abruptly and painfully. We carry in our hearts the loved ones they left behind. We can be sure that, at this very moment, there are still open wounds in many hearts and homes. How can we forget the courage of those who gave up their lives on that fateful day? Police, firefighters, EMS, and courageous fellow citizens who did the right thing – helping others at the cost of their own lives. How can we stop remembering those who bore the scars of 9 / 11 for years and those who bear them still?
If 9 / 11 breaks our heart, it must also make us resolute: to be men and women of courage and conviction like those who died so that others might live, to be men and women who live for God and for others. Courage under fire doesn’t materialize out of thin air. It must be engrained in our character, a never-ending task.
A writer of uncommon wisdom recently declared, “Never lie about what breaks your heart.” Don’t deny it. Don’t sugarcoat it. Don’t obscure it. To do so is not only to disregard the nearly 3,000 people who died that day, but it is also to risk becoming a people who are indifferent and deceived. But to remember 9 / 11 unvarnished is not to seethe in anger. It is not to usurp the vengeance that belongs to God alone. No, a broken heart is not a vengeful heart but a contrite and merciful heart. When we pray Psalm 51 do we not say, “a broken, contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn?” We pray for a broken heart for only such a heart is open enough, big enough to encompass the pain and sacrifice of 9 / 11, to forgive our foes, and to place what we cannot grasp into the hands of the God who does. Indeed, a broken, contrite heart is the only heart capable of courage and self-sacrificing love.
Hearts that are broken remember. Above all, let us remember Jesus. Remembering him in the Eucharistic Sacrifice ushers us into his Heart, a heart broken in love and compassion for a humanity struggling with its own heartlessness. In his heart alone, our remembrance becomes clear and honest. The eye of the heart is freed from the beam that obscures its sight. Then do we see clearly the sacrifice of those who died that day, the enduring sacrifice of those who still suffer, and the herculean efforts of those who still labor to bring peace to our troubled world. In this eucharistic remembrance, may compassion, healing and integrity pour forth from our broken hearts.
Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!