Twenty years ago today, 2,996 lives were lost in terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C. and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. That staggering figure includes citizens of 78 countries, 343 firefighters and paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers. It includes the 184 lives lost at the Pentagon building and the 44 lives lost in Shanksville. It includes too the lives of the 19 militants who carried out the unspeakable horror.
But what that astounding figure does not include, what it does not account for, is the many lives that were left behind: those of the families left to grieve the loss of a loved one they may never have cause to bury; those of the children left only with photographs of their parents, who died that day; those of the emergency personnel and first responders left with mental scars from that day and left now to suffer from the added weight of long-term health effects from the dust and debris; those of the soldiers left with little choice but to go to war and leave their families behind; those of Arab descent and different religious beliefs left to suffer the pain of hatred and racism; and those of the many who were left with fears, worries and anxieties about what the future would hold.
As we remember today the many lives lost and those left behind on September 11, 2001, we remember too the hope that prevailed in the days and months that followed. Hundreds of thousands of candles were lit across our nation and around the world on September 12, 2001, a visible reminder to us that even when faced with the worst offenses against human dignity, evil, darkness, and death cannot overcome the light of Christ and our Christian hope in the resurrection.
By our faith and grounded in the resurrection of Christ, we were given the grace to persevere through those days of mourning. Now, two decades later, may God grant us that same strength and courage to persevere, even in our sorrowful remembrance of that day. I ask you, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to join me in prayer for the souls of the departed, for those mourning their loss, and for all struggling with the long-term effects of that shocking tragedy.
May our Blessed Mother, who stood beside the foot of the cross of her Son and knows our pain, intercede for us, so that we may continue to have faith in the victory of good over evil, of life over death, and hope in the resurrection. May God bless you and your families and may He bless America.
Most Reverend James F. Checchio, JCD, MBA
Bishop of Metuchen