We remember the evetns of September 11th 10 yrs. ago as if it were yesterday. Here is an image I will never forget.
The North tower is ablaze. Thousands of exhausted people– many of them suffering smoke inhalation–are pouring out of the building then quickly away from it. Meanwhile, brigades of fire fighters are rushing in as if they were trading places. On Sunday afternoon at 3 PM, a memorial will be dedicated at the Acton Public Safety Building. It will feature a ten foot long, 518 lb. steel girder taken from ground zero. This is significant in so many ways: we remember Philip Rozensweig of Acton, and so many others who lost their lives that day.
As well, we remember those civil servants: firefighters, policemen, search and rescue teams, EMT’s, and others who in doing their jobs have answered the call to service for the common good. And in this moment when government has become a dirty word, let us not forget that our civil servants are members of the government. This is a hard time for those who’ve given so much: their jobs and salaries are being cut, their benefits and right to collective bargaining curtailed. Let’s not forgot that many of these servants face the real possibility of death in the course of our daily work, but they accept it. Their lives are given for our benefit, for the common good, and when servants lose their lives in the line of duty we feel it…their sacrifice is for us. Jesus said “There is no love greater than this; laying down one’s life for another.” (John 15:13)
