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…After September 11, we are a wounded people. We share loss and pain, anger and fear, shock and determination in the face of these attacks on our nation and all humanity. We also honor the selflessness of firefighters, police, chaplains, and other brave individuals who gave their lives in the service of others. They are true heroes and heroines.
In those and these difficult days, our faith has lifted us up and sustained us. Our nation turned to God in prayer and in faith with a new intensity. This was evident on cell phones on hijacked airliners, on stairways in doomed towers, in cathedrals and parish churches, at ecumenical and interfaith services, in our homes and hearts. Our faith teaches us about good and evil, free will and responsibility. Jesus’ life, teaching, death and resurrection show us the meaning of love and justice in a broken world. Sacred Scripture and traditional ethical principles define what it means to make peace. They provide moral guidance on how the world should respond justly to terrorism in order to reestablish peace and order. Thus is it our sacred responsibility, as children of God, to care for the world of ours; to sustain peace and to realize our sacred duty – to preserve the common good, protect the innocent, and reestablish peace and order in the world around us.'”
Following the prayer service, the parish family of Holy Archangel Michael prepared a luncheon, observing the strict liturgical fast of the day and yet sharing in prayerful fellowship with each other.
