Importance of faith and family continue to rise from tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001
United Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York as the north tower burns after being hit by American Flight 11 in this file photo from Sept. 11, 2001. The attacks claimed the lives of 2,749 people in New York. (CNS photo/Sean Adair, Reuters)
By John Shaughnessy
It was a time when the foundations of our lives were suddenly shaken to the core—a time when we also suddenly remembered what are the foundations of our lives.
After the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York collapsed in a cloud of smoke and fire, people poured into places of worship, praying for the United States, praying for the nearly 3,000 people who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, praying for the family and friends of the victims, and praying for their own family and friends.
Stunned by the attacks, including the one on the Pentagon near Washington, people turned to God, seeking answers, hoping for comfort, wanting reassurance.
And similar to several passengers on Flight 93 before it crashed in Shanksville, Pa., countless people across the country phoned their family and friends to simply say, “I love you.”
In a time marked by shock, fear and fragility, the foundations of faith, humanity and love somehow held us together and connected us.
With the 10th anniversary of Sept 11, 2001, nearing, The Criterion invited readers to share their memories of that day, and how it affected their faith lives then and now. While we aren’t able to share the reflections of everyone who responded, here is a sampling that represents the thoughts of our readers.
‘My heart stopped for a second’
As a nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove, Anne Eacret was driving to work when she heard the news on the radio that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York—the city where she was born and where some of her family members still lived.
“My heart stopped for a second as I envisioned this tragedy,” recalls Eacret, a member of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis. “Many of my family and friends live there. Before I could think of how this event would affect us, the news of another plane hitting the second tower was announced. I knew immediately that this was no accident. I began to pray aloud for our country and for those people in the Trade Center.
“When I got to work, every television was fixed upon the tragic events. My mind immediately thought of my son and all the young men in our country who may be called in to serve in an emergency situation.
“[Later,] we all gathered on the circle outside the hospital to pray—nurses, doctors, anyone who could be there. As the day progressed and we heard about the other planes at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, my heart sank. I was afraid, and all I could think to do was to pray. I called my family and friends in New York. All were safe, thank God.
“How did that day change my spiritual life? I pray daily now for our country, our leaders and our military. I am ever mindful of how vulnerable we are, and how life can be changed in an instant. And I keep my eyes focused on Jesus, who has me always in his care.”
The sense of God’s presence
For the 35 pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, their journey to Europe had already been delayed a day due to adverse weather, leading them to spend the night of Sept. 10, 2001, at a hotel just across the Hudson River from New York. The next morning, they looked through their hotel windows in horror as fire and smoke poured from the two World Trade Center towers.
As the spiritual director of the pilgrimage, Father Patrick Beidelman watched in horror, too, before he decided to celebrate a memorial Mass with the pilgrims and a tour group from a Catholic parish in Buffalo, N.Y.
In his homily at the hotel, Father Beidelman said, “As we hold in our hearts the thousands of people that suffer and mourn this day, as we are filled with anxiety, let us stand poised and confident in the consolation, compassion and power of our God to go where we are called.
“May God keep his loving hand upon each of us and upon all on this sad day. May the violence and bloodshed and the killing stop now, and may our prayers be with those who desperately need our support.”
Ten years later, Father Beidelman still recalls the sacredness that he experienced that day amid the tragic events.
“I have very vivid memories of that day of being with the people and the singular focus we all had on our need for prayer and the sense of God’s presence we know most powerfully in the Mass,” says Father Beidelman, director of liturgy for the archdiocese and vice rector of Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis.
“What stands out to me from that day is our experience of one another’s sadness, one another’s pain and one another’s fear. The power of faith and the importance of our worship and prayer together satisfy our hunger for a meaning and a purpose in our lives in the most difficult times.”
A mother’s desperation
“Our family met in Florida for the Sept. 9 funeral of my sister-in-law, Elaine,” recalls Virginia Unverzagt, a member of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Terre Haute. “On Sept. 11, my husband and I drove our son to the Miami airport for his 8:30 a.m. departure back to college in Minnesota. When we returned to the motel, we watched the TV in stunned horror at the unfolding events in New York then Washington.
“News anchors speculated that ‘Chicago would likely be next’—the city to which we had just sent our son. The fact that American Airlines jets had been targeted and that he was aboard an AA jet only compounded our dismay. He was scheduled to land around 9:30 a.m., but we did not receive a phone call from him until after 2 p.m. It was the most harrowing, frightening 4½ hours [that] I’ve ever experienced.
“It took me several years to process the events of that day. I was able to be at peace with the desperation I felt at the possibility of losing my son only through theological reflection. I can remember the moment I connected my feelings with Mary’s at the loss of the young Jesus in the temple. To this day, I feel a deep identification with Mary as mother.”
‘I need to hear your voice’
Ed Greene had an immediate need to talk to his children after he saw the television report showing that a second plane had crashed into the second tower of the World Trade Center.
“I felt disconnected, like this isn’t the world I’m used to,” Greene recalls. “I got on the telephone to my three children—one in Seattle, one in Indianapolis and one in a small town in Iowa. I needed to connect with them. I called my son, David, in Seattle and said, ‘I need to hear your voice.’ I knew he was all right, but I needed something familiar because everything that morning was scary and unfamiliar. Hearing his voice grounded me and helped me get moving.”
Greene drove that morning to SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis, where he works as director of music.
“I got to the cathedral, and we decided a larger noon Mass was going to be needed that day,” Greene recalls. “Shortly before noon, the cathedral was full and very quiet. It was obvious that people were shaken. They were looking for something that would ground them and reassure them, just like I was.
“I’m emotional now just thinking about it. I just got the sense that we all knew that in the Church and our faith we’d find the stability we needed for whatever would come our way.”
A lesson in life from death
Ten years later, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, still serve as a poignant reminder about life for Jerald Archer, a member of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis.
“The events that occurred helped me to see two very important aspects of our short but rather precious existence here,” Archer wrote in his reflection. “The first was how quickly we can be snatched from life without warning. And secondly, that we as a human race are tested and proven by our tragedies.
“I tend now to understand the importance of true penance today better than ever before. It changed the very way I lived and thought about my immortal soul. Blessings will often be created within tragedy, but the real wisdom is to be able to see it.
“The events, even as devastating as they were, could have been much worse, heaven forbid. We will never forget, yet we must forgive. Given the result and aftermath, these events provided the catalyst for Americans—and the rest of the world—to really take stock in being more vigilant both spiritually and socially, and [more] aware of our surroundings and the nature of evil itself.
“The greatest lesson we should have learned is that life is precious but death is quick, and our eternal salvation may lie on the brink of a single decision in any given moment. I believe that good does come from bad events, however subtle, and those events that try us only make us stronger and hopefully wiser.” †
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