By Communications Department - Archdiocese of Miami
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Members of the Miami Shores Police Department Honor Guard sit in the front pew of St. Martha Church during the Mass.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Corporal Luque Barrientos of the U.S. Marine Corps, a 2003 graduate of St. Rose of Lima School in Miami Shores, carries the processional cross into the Mass, followed by members of the Knights of Columbus carrying the helmet worn by N.Y. Fire Department chaplain Father Mychal Judge, the Franciscan priest who was among the first to die on 9/11.
Among the dead or injured on that day were hundreds of our first responders. They put themselves in harm's way in the line of duty. At this Mass we honor them and we honor you the police officers, fire fighters, emergency workers from all of South Florida. Like St. Michael the Archangel, the patron of police officers, you protect us against wickedness and the snares of the devil. And while not all of you wear blue uniforms, you all do represent that thin blue line that stands between civilization and barbarity, between community and chaos.
As communities in Louisiana and elsewhere in the United States deal with the aftermath of hurricane Isaac, we have witnessed once again the dedication and professionalism of our public servants. In a real way, you and the men and women who serve with you throughout our nation as police officers, fire fighters, and emergency workers represent the embodiment of Jesus' golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Jesus commands us to love even our enemies. The love that Jesus enjoins on us is not mere sentimentality or emotion; it means that we desire good and not evil for everyone, even those who say that they are our enemies; it means that we recognize our duty to respect and honor the dignity of each person made in the image and likeness of God, and to do so we need to be patient with the defects of others and not to return evil with evil.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Artifacts from 9/11 occupy a prominent place on the side of the altar, including a bolt from the Twin Towers, ashes from the site, an American flag and the helmet of Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, the New York Fire Department chaplain who was the first certified victim of the attack.
We have here today at the Mass some of our young children from St. Rose of Lima School and from Archbishop Curley Notre-Dame. Even as we recall the events of 11 years ago, the sacrifice of the hundreds of public servants who gave their lives trying to save people whom they didn't even know, it is good for us to remind these young people and ourselves about the difference between celebrity and heroism. Too often, our society values people for what they have and not for whom they are, and when getting rather than giving is prized, celebrities are taken as role models. Starlets with bare midriffs are deemed worthy of emulation; and sports personalities whose records unfortunately also include rap sheets are idolized.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Students from St. Rose of Lima School in Miami Shores take part in the Mass.
Today, we make our own, the words that Pope Benedict prayed at ground zero when he visited there during his trip to the United States in April of 2008:
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
A Miami-Dade County firefighter from Station 30 in Miami Shores reads the first reading.
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred. God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.
