The Last Homily Of Fr Mychal Judge (9/10/01)

[Katiebobatie94]

Not totally sure where to post this but this was the last homily given by Fr Mychal Judge. He was a Catholic priest who died in the Twin Towers during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He was the chaplian for Ladder 42, and was one of the first responders to the Towers that day. May he rest in peace.

[img]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma5r4czkDV1qmkw26o1_r1_400.jpg[/img]
[indent]
[b]The Last Homily of Father Mychal Judge
September 10, 2001
FDNY Engine 73, Ladder 42, Bronx, NY

Good morning, everyone.

May the grace of God the Father, peace of God the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

We come to this house this morning to celebrate renewal, rejuvination, new life. We come to thank God for the blessings over all the years - the good work that’s been done here and especially the last few days. We can never thank God enough for the reality of the lives we have. So, standing in His presence this morning, and truly this is a chapel, let us pause for a moment, perhaps close our eyes, and thank God for some special blessings in our individual lives.

Let us pray.

Thank you Lord for life. Thank you for love. Thank you for goodness. Thank you for work. Thank you for family. Thank you for friends. Thank you for every gift because we know that every gift comes from you, and without you, we have and are nothing. So, as we celebrate this day in thanksgiving to you, keep our hearts and minds open. Let us enjoy each other’s company, and most of all, let us be conscious of Your presence in our lives and in a special way in the lives of all those who have gone before us. And Father we make our prayer, as always, in Jesus’ name who lives with You forever and ever.

That’s the way it is. Good days. And bad days. Up days. Down days. Sad days. Happy days. But never a boring day on this job. You do what God has called you to do. You show up. You put one foot in front of another. You get on the rig and you go out and you do the job - which is a mystery. And a surprise. You have no idea when you get on that rig. No matter how big the call. No matter how small. You have no idea what God is calling you to. But he needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us.

The retirees - He needs your prayers. He needs your stopping by occasionally to give strength and support and to tell the stories of the old days. We need the house and to those of you that are working now, keep going. Keep supporting each other. Be kind to each other. Love each other. Work together and do what you did the other night and the weeks and the months and the years before and from this house, God’s blessings go forth in this community. It’s fantastic!

What great people. We love the job. We all do. What a blessing that is. A difficult, difficult job and God calls you to it. And then He gives you a love for it so that a difficult job will be well done. Isn’t He a wonderful God? Isn’t He good to you? To each one of you? And to me! Turn to Him each day. Put your faith and your trust and your hope and your life in His hands, and He’ll take care of you and you’ll have a good life.

And this house will be a great, great blessing to this neighborhood and to this city.

Amen.[/b][/indent]

[i<3franciscans]

*speechless*

[cappie]

[img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_z2r9rpQCP4E/SChMvksf6yI/AAAAAAAAAGU/F4l8QPhD5IA/S1600-R/MychalPieta.jpg[/img]

[i<3franciscans]

[img]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.17537.1314099393!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/gallery_635/gal-judge-3-jpg.jpg[/img]

[Nihil Obstat]

Fr. Judge may have had a... challenging(?) track record in terms of certain elements of Catholic teaching, but at the end of the day he did precisely what he was called to do, and he deserves respect for that at the very least. When push came to shove he simply did what he had to do. I'm sure he gained great merit for his administering of the last rites at ground zero.

[Katiebobatie94]

Upon hearing the news that the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center"]World Trade Center[/url] had been hit, Father Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_New_York"]Mayor of New York[/url], [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Giuliani"]Rudolph Giuliani[/url], who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Judge administered the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Rites"]Last Rites[/url] to some lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center"]World Trade Center[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Tower"]North Tower[/url], where an emergency [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_post#Command_and_Control_Centers"]command post[/url] was organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured and dead.
When the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Tower"]South Tower[/url] collapsed at 9:59 am, debris went flying through the North Tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge. At the moment he was struck in the head and killed, Judge was repeatedly praying aloud, "Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!", according to Judge's biographer and [i][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Daily_News"]New York Daily News[/url][/i] columnist Michael Daly.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mychal_Judge#cite_note-11"][size="2"][12][/size][/url][/sup][sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mychal_Judge#cite_note-12"][size="2"][13][/size][/url][/sup]
Shortly after his death, a NYPD lieutenant, who had also been buried in the collapse, found Judge's body and assisted by two firemen and two civilian bystanders carried it out of the North Tower lobby to nearby [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Roman_Catholic_Church,_New_York"]St Peter's Church[/url]. This event was captured in the documentary film [i][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_(film)"]9/11[/url][/i], shot by [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_and_Gedeon_Naudet"]Jules and Gedeon Naudet[/url]. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shannon_Stapleton&action=edit&redlink=1"]Shannon Stapleton[/url], photographer from [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters"]Reuters[/url], photographed Judge's body being carried out of the rubble by five men.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mychal_Judge#cite_note-13"][size="2"][14][/size][/url][/sup] It became one of the most famous images related to 9/11. The [i][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Weekly"]Philadelphia Weekly[/url][/i] reported that the photograph is "considered an American [i][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0"]Pietà[/url][/i]."[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mychal_Judge#cite_note-14"][size="2"][15][/size][/url][/sup]
Mychal Judge was designated as "Victim 0001" and thereby recognized as the first official victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Other victims died before him including air crew, passengers, and occupants of the towers, but Judge was the first certified fatality because his was the first body to be recovered and taken to the coroner.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mychal_Judge#cite_note-15"][size="2"][16][/size][/url][/sup]

[Katiebobatie94]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1347393361' post='2481419']
Fr. Judge may have had a... challenging(?) track record in terms of certain elements of Catholic teaching, but at the end of the day he did precisely what he was called to do, and he deserves respect for that at the very least. When push came to shove he simply did what he had to do. I'm sure he gained great merit for his administering of the last rites at ground zero.
[/quote]

maybe this will shed a little more light. i dont know if you have ever seen this documentary but......
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14KUJeQ6XnQ&feature=relmfu"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14KUJeQ6XnQ&feature=relmfu[/url]

[Katiebobatie94]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1347393361' post='2481419']
Fr. Judge may have had a... challenging(?) track record in terms of certain elements of Catholic teaching, but at the end of the day he did precisely what he was called to do, and he deserves respect for that at the very least. When push came to shove he simply did what he had to do. I'm sure he gained great merit for his administering of the last rites at ground zero.
[/quote]

we are all broken. Fr Mychal knew that. and he didnt want people like him to feel like God hated them he wanted them to feel loved. that was what he wa called to do. to help everyone (gay and straight) to know God's love and mercy for them. regardless of what he felt......at this point that shouldnt matter.....the number of lives he touched and people he changed is what should count.....not what he thought. he was the epitome of what unfortunately too many people in today's world are not. he embraced everyone regardless of where they had been andmade them feel loved. made them to feel that they were not rejected, even if it was just by him. that is what made such an amazing man.......not his sexuality or anything like that. the impact he made.....thats what counts.

i just thought i would put a little side note on the video.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Katiebobatie94

[Katiebobatie94]

the video of part of his last homily starts at like 2:56

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mLIczIyhUw&feature=plcp"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mLIczIyhUw&feature=plcp[/url]

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Katiebobatie94' timestamp='1347684620' post='2482607']
we are all broken. Fr Mychal knew that. and he didnt want people like him to feel like God hated them he wanted them to feel loved. that was what he wa called to do. to help everyone (gay and straight) to know God's love and mercy for them. regardless of what he felt......at this point that shouldnt matter.....the number of lives he touched and people he changed is what should count.....not what he thought. he was the epitome of what unfortunately too many people in today's world are not. he embraced everyone regardless of where they had been andmade them feel loved. made them to feel that they were not rejected, even if it was just by him. that is what made such an amazing man.......not his sexuality or anything like that. the impact he made.....thats what counts.

i just thought i would put a little side note on the video.
[/quote]

As I said, he did what he was called to do, and that is worth a lot. More than we'll ever know. The grace that he brought to the innocent dying at Ground Zero cannot be overemphasized. However his support for Dignity cannot really just be swept under the rug. No matter how you look at it, Dignity stands for very problematic things.
The variable is the extent to which Fr. Judge was ok with Dignity. I do not know, and I do not know who does know, however the fact remains that in and of itself it is rather troubling.

[Katiebobatie94]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1347685466' post='2482617']
As I said, he did what he was called to do, and that is worth a lot. More than we'll ever know. The grace that he brought to the innocent dying at Ground Zero cannot be overemphasized. However his support for Dignity cannot really just be swept under the rug. No matter how you look at it, Dignity stands for very problematic things.
The variable is the extent to which Fr. Judge was ok with Dignity. I do not know, and I do not know who does know, however the fact remains that in and of itself it is rather troubling.
[/quote]

regardless though of his extent in it, shouldnt the love and compassion he showed to those people be what is important. i dont know if u watched the video but so many of those people thought that they were absolutely hated by God for feeling how they felt. Fr Mychal did nothing but show them the opposite. he did nothing but love them unconditionally the way tht God does, and the way other people should. he really was an amazing man, and it was his struggles that touched people. it was his faults and his shortcomings that made him "the people's priest". at the very end of the documentary (part 8 of 8) one od his friends said that Fr Mychal thought he was one of the worst people. he didnt know the love that everyone ahd for him and the way he veiwed them

not to mention he gave those people a sense of dignity and humanity that had been ripped away from them. regardless of their feelings they were made to feel unloved and unhuman, Fr Mychal helped rind them that they are always loved and that they (just like every other person) have human dignity, and natural right given to all regardless of what they believe or feel or who they love. human dignity is a right that everyone has and that was taked away from them....Fr Mychal helped them to feel loved again, helped them to feel human.

it a really good documentary. i really recommend you watch more than just that one part....it really shows his humanity and his struggles. it really helps to give a full picture of just who this man was and the impact he had on the people whose lives he touched.

PS i didnt mean to go off on a tangent.....it just kinda happened

Edited September 15, 2012 by Katiebobatie94

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Katiebobatie94' timestamp='1347686173' post='2482624']
regardless though of his extent in it, shouldnt the love and compassion he showed to those people be what is important. i dont know if u watched the video but so many of those people thought that they were absolutely hated by God for feeling how they felt. Fr Mychal did nothing but show them the opposite. he did nothing but love them unconditionally the way tht God does, and the way other people should. he really was an amazing man, and it was his struggles that touched people. it was his faults and his shortcomings that made him "the people's priest". at the very end of the documentary (part 8 of 8) one od his friends said that Fr Mychal thought he was one of the worst people. he didnt know the love that everyone ahd for him and the way he veiwed them

not to mention he gave those people a sense of dignity and humanity that had been ripped away from them. regardless of their feelings they were made to feel unloved and unhuman, Fr Mychal helped rind them that they are always loved and that they (just like every other person) have human dignity, and natural right given to all regardless of what they believe or feel or who they love. human dignity is a right that everyone has and that was taked away from them....Fr Mychal helped them to feel loved again, helped them to feel human.

it a really good documentary. i really recommend you watch more than just that one part....it really shows his humanity and his struggles. it really helps to give a full picture of just who this man was and the impact he had on the people whose lives he touched.
[/quote]

I have not said that he was not a good person, or that he was not full of love for the sick or outcasts. All I have said is that there are problematic aspects to his ministry. (An implication of that is that, IMO, he can never be canonized, as some groups would like to happen for him.)
His 'hero' aspect has caused some people, in the past, to look at him rather uncritically. That is dangerous. Also some groups rather opposed to Church teaching would like to turn him into some kind of 'gay icon'. That is even more dangerous.
Do not think that I am saying any more than I am. I have reiterated several times that what he did on September 11 was great. I have not denied that he was full of love and a sense of his pastoral mission. Frankly I do not know much about that aspect of him. That is really all I can say.

I might add though, that if he fully supported the Church's teaching on homosexuality, I wonder why he lent his support to Dignity rather than to Courage.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Nihil Obstat

[Katiebobatie94]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1347686662' post='2482630']
I have not said that he was not a good person, or that he was not full of love for the sick or outcasts. All I have said is that there are problematic aspects to his ministry. (An implication of that is that, IMO, he can never be canonized, as some groups would like to happen for him.)
His 'hero' aspect has caused some people, in the past, to look at him rather uncritically. That is dangerous. Also some groups rather opposed to Church teaching would like to turn him into some kind of 'gay icon'. That is even more dangerous.
Do not think that I am saying any more than I am. I have reiterated several times that what he did on September 11 was great. I have not denied that he was full of love and a sense of his pastoral mission. Frankly I do not know much about that aspect of him. That is really all I can say.

I might add though, that if he fully supported the Church's teaching on homosexuality, I wonder why he lent his support to Dignity rather than to Courage.
[/quote]

as i was watching the video i did realize that the chances of him ever being canonized are very unlikely.......and i understand why i totally do. i just feel that this man shouldnt be looked on for how he felt rather what he did with those feelings and how he used them to show others love. i look up to him, especially growing up in nyc. i really do hope and pray that i can follow his example in not being afraid to spread God's love. he changed so many lives. and to be honest its worth watching the entire documentary. whe u originally mentioned his past i didnt know what you meant, but i think if anything it has only made me admire him more just because of what he did in his life and how he really embraced those who were outcasted from society. please watch the documentary when u get a chance, i really dont think you will be disappointed.

[Nihil Obstat]

I think you are interpreting a certain criticism into my posts that is not present.

[Katiebobatie94]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1347687480' post='2482643']
I think you are interpreting a certain criticism into my posts that is not present.
[/quote]

if its coming across that way i apologize...no thats not what i was trying to do. and to be honest i really dont know why he supported Dignity rather than Courage.....it might have had something to do with the fact that he had friends involved with Dignity......maybe he didnt know anyone in Courage......but to be honest i dont know. and i really am sorry i dont mean to be coming off like i am criticizing u. i dont mean to. but again that is a great point with Dignity & Courage......i just think he was an amesome man.....

and i just wanted to share his story......i know even in nyc there arent too many people who know about him, more people are now but in the past not that many people (other than those who knew him) didnt know his story or what he did.