September 11, 2011
24th Sunday Ordinary Time
Today we come to offer Mass and commemorate a date and event: September 11, 2001 and the attacks of terror on our homeland. We need to return to the places -- NYC, a field in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. But we must also return to a place in our hearts/minds where memories are kept and meaning is given. As a nation we have decided to mark the places of violence and heroic virtue. The memorial at ground zero consciously includes absence. The lost souls and skyline cannot be filled in with a solid. We will be drawn to ground zero. First we will see the trees and gardens, then hear the water. In place of the twin towers, in the print of the foundations, there are two pools, an acre in size, with cascading water flowing down the sides into an inner square and disappearing into the dark void. Names of people who died are stenciled on bronze panels where visitors can trace their fingers. The names are not in alphabetical order but grouped by association -- of how they were linked together in life and death. It is called: "meaningful adjacencies" -- a continuum of community in/beyond time and space. At night light will filter through the stenciled names and illuminate the dark heavens. When there is absence there is always presence. This commemoration reminds us of our beginning as a believing community. After Jesus is arrested, condemned, crucified and dies, the disciples, shattered, scatter. Into the void of his perceived physical absence, the Risen One, appears and speaks to them. They are not alone, Jesus the Anointed of God, is with them. The memorial of the life, death and resurrection of Christ is not a crucifix or altar or church building but all of us gathered here who continue to live with the haunting memory of his words and his very life and spirit. Before we come to the altar to be nourished by His Body and Blood, let us pray for those who died; those who mourn and live with emptiness; for those who go into harm's way to protect, to rescue and to defend; for those who build and design memorials that embody tragedy and sadness, hope and ideals; for justice and for peace.
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