Five years have passed, O Lord,
five years of mourning and of tears,
of struggling to make sense and to go on.
Five years since crashing planes, collapsing building,
rivers of smoke and ash and fear brought death and fear.

Give us the courage to hope again, Father.
To pray even for our enemies, and for ourselves.
Give us the grace to be freed from hate
and unbound from the paralysis of fear.
Give us the freedom of the children of God:

Awaken in our hearts a firm resolve
“to reject the ways of violence,
to combat everything that sows hatred and division
within the human family,
and to work for the dawn of a new era
of solidarity, justice and peace.”ⁱ

We ask this through the Prince of Peace,
our Way, our Truth, and our Life,
Christ the Lord. Amen.

Did we ever understand the words of Isaiah better than we did five years ago? Were our hearts ever so frightened as when we watched those towers collapse? And our minds raced: Who was in charge? Why aren’t we safe? What’s going to happen next!?

But when we stop and take a breath, we know who is in charge…and who’s not. The terrorists are not in charge. The President is not in charge. Not even the armed forces is in charge. Only God is in charge. The One through whom we were made. The One at whose word the blind see, the deaf hear, and those crippled dance for joy! No death, no terror, no evil, no darkness is more powerful than him, and no one loves us more than he who came to save us.

He loves us no matter who we are or what we have done. He longs for us no matter how far we have strayed. And he is always waiting for us to return to him: to turn our back on violence and selfishness and hatred, and to run to him with the excitement of a child to his father’s arms.

There are three words spoken by Pope John Paul II which we remember more than any others. They are the words the Lord Jesus first spoke to his disciples when they were huddled in fear in the dark upper room: Be not afraid. He speaks them to us today, as he did on the day the planes went into those buildings: I am with you. I am in charge. Be not afraid!

What does God want us to do in the face of injustice? How does a Christian answer violence and wickedness? Pope Paul VI told us that if we want peace we need to work for justice.

That’s not the easy or the popular answer. When someone hurts me, I want to hurt them back. Revenge is as old as Cain and as close as the human heart.

But five years after the horrific and unimaginable violence of 9/11 the Gospel tells us a story about healing. Jesus heals a crippled man, despite the derision of the unbelieving crowds.

Perhaps we should ask Jesus for healing as well. Healing for those whose hearts still ache and whose eyes still tear up remembering the one who died so suddenly and without reason. Healing for the young man or woman so filled with hate that they are tempted to strap bombs to their body and die in a hopeless act of hate. Healing for those who are so filled with fear that they cannot be about the work God has given them. Healing for a world that too often opts for fear over trust, violence over love, and hatred over justice.

Perhaps we need to hold out our crippled selves to Christ, and know that he will heal us.

Remembering 9/11
Sample Intercessions

For the dead,
and especially those who died
in the terrorism of 9/11:
that God might forgive their sins
and lead them gently home to eternal peace:
we pray to the Lord:

For peace throughout the world,
and for an end to hatred and violence:
we pray to the Lord:

For a growing love of justice,
that God’s will might implant in the hearts of all
a firm conviction of the dignity of every human being:
we pray to the Lord:

For those tempted to violence, terrorism, or hate:
that God might teach us how
to deliver their hearts from evil
and to lead them to God’s perfect peace:
we pray to the Lord:

For all travelers and for those who work to protect them:
that God might send an angel
to bring them safely home to those who love them:
we pray to the Lord:

For all who are tempted to revenge, violence or hatred:
that God might still troubled hearts
and bring justice and peace to our world:
we pray to the Lord:

For our enemies:
that the Spirit of healing and peace
will bring us to reconciliation
and the mutual achievement of justice in our world:
we pray to the Lord:

HYMN

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say: Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high; Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell: Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids his rise; Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord our earth and heaven! Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given; Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now; Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection Thou! Alleluia! Amen.

Melody: Llanfair 7.7.7.7 with Alleluias Music: Robert Williams, 1781-1821
Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 The bones that were crushed shall leap for joy before the Lord.

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sign I have done.

That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge,
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.

Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
that the bones you have crushed may revive.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.

O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In your goodness, show favor to Zion:
Rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
holocausts offered on your alter.

Ant. The bones that were crushed shall leap for joy before the Lord.

Ant. 2 At the very threshold of death, rescue me, Lord.

Once I said,
In the noontime of life I must depart!
To the gates of the nether world I shall be consigned
for the rest of my years.”

I said, I shall see the Lord no more
in the land of the living.
No longer shall I behold my fellow men
among those who dwell in the world.”

My dwelling, like a shepherd’s tent,
is struck down and borne away from me;
you have folded up my life, like a weaver
who severs the last thread.

Day and night you give me over to torment;
I cry out until the dawn.
Like a lion he breaks all my bones;
day and night you give me over to torment.

Like a swallow I utter shrill cries;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak, gazing heaven-ward:
Oh Lord, I am in straits; be my surety!

You have preserved my life
from the pit of destruction,
when you cast behind your back
all my sins.

For it is not the nether world that gives you thanks,
nor death that praises you;
neither do those who go down into the pit
await your kindness.

The living, the living give you thanks,
as I do today.
Fathers declare to their sons,
O God, your faithfulness.

The Lord is our savior;
we shall sing to stringed instruments
in the house of the Lord
all the days of our life.

Ant. At the very threshold of death, rescue me, Lord.

Ant. 3 I will praise my God all the days of my life.

My soul, give praise to the Lord;
I will praise the Lord all my days,
make music to my God while I live.

Put no trust in princes,
in mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay
and their plans that day come to nothing.

He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.

It is he who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,

the Lord, who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.

It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.

Ant. I will praise my God all the days of my life.

READING

1 Thessalonians 4:14

If we believe that Jesus died and rose, God will bring forth with him from the dead those also who have fallen asleep believing in him.

RESPONSORY

I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
—I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

You turned my sorrow into joy,
—for you have rescued me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
—I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Ant.	I am the Resurrection, I am the Life; to believe in me means life, in spite of death, and all who believe and live in me shall never die.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. I am the Resurrection, I am the Life; to believe in me means life, in spite of death, and all who believe and live in me shall never die.

INTERCESSIONS

Let us pray to the all-powerful Father who raised Jesus from the dead and gives new life to our mortal bodies, and say to him:
Lord, give us new life in Christ.

Father, through baptism we have been buried with your Son and have risen with him in his resurrection,
—grant that we may walk in newness of life so that when we die, we may live with Christ for ever.
Provident Father, you have given us the living bread that has come down from heaven and which should always be eaten worthily,
—grant that we may eat this bread worthily and be raised up to eternal life on the last day.
Lord, you sent an angel to comfort your Son in his agony,
—give us the hope of your consolation when death draws near.
You delivered the three youths from the fiery furnace,
—free your faithful ones from the punishment they suffer for their sins.
God of the living and the dead, you raised Jesus from the dead,
—raise up those who have died and grant that we may share eternal glory with them.

Our Father…

Lord, hear our prayers.
By raising your Son from the dead, you have given us faith.
Strengthen our hope that our brothers and sisters will share in his resurrection.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Ant. 1 The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will guard your soul.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains:
from where shall come my help?
My help shall come from the Lord
who made heaven and earth.

May he never allow you to stumble!
Let him sleep not, your guard.
No, he sleeps not nor slumbers,
Israel’s guard.

The Lord is your guard and your shade;
at your right side he stands.
By day the sun shall not smite you
nor the moon in the night.

The Lord will guard you from evil,
he will guard your soul.
The Lord will guard your going and coming
both now and forever.

Ant. The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will guard your soul.

Ant. 2 If you kept a record of our sins, Lord, who could escape condemnation?

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.

My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.

Ant. If you kept a record of our sins, Lord, who could escape condemnation?

Ant. 3

As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills.

Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at.

Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.

He was known to be of human estate,
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!

Because of this,
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
above every other name,

So that at Jesus’ name
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth,
And every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Ant. 3

As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills.

READING

1 CORINTHIANS 15:55-57

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? But thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

RESPONSORY

In you, Lord, is our hope. We shall never hope in vain.
—In you, Lord, is our hope. We shall never hope in vain.

We shall dance and rejoice in your mercy.
—We shall never hope in vain.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
—In you, Lord, is our hope. We shall never hope in vain.

CANTICLE OF MARY

Ant.	All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I shall not turn away.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Ant.	All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I shall not turn away.

INTERCESSIONS

We acknowledge Christ the Lord through whom we hope that our lowly bodies will be made like his in glory, and we say:
Lord, you are our life and resurrection.

Christ, Son of the living God, who raised up Lazarus, your friend, from the dead,
—raise up to life and glory the dead whom you have redeemed by your precious blood.

Christ, consoler of those who mourn, you dried the tears of the family of Lazarus, of the widow’s son, and the daughter of Jairus,
—comfort those who mourn for the dead.

Christ, Savior, destroy the reign of sin in our earthly bodies, so that just as through sin we deserved punishment,
—so through you we may gain eternal life.

Christ, Redeemer, look on those who have no hope because they do not know you,
—may they receive faith in the resurrection and in the life of the world to come.

You revealed yourself to the blind man who begged for the light of his eyes,
—show your face to the dead who are still deprived of your light.

When at last our earthly home is dissolved,
—give us a home, not of earthly making, but built of eternity in heaven.

Our Father…

Lord, hear our prayers.
By raising your Son from the dead, you have given us faith.
Strengthen our hope that our brothers and sisters will share in his resurrection.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

AMEN.

R. To you, O Lord, I lift up my Soul.

Psalm 25

In you I trust; let me not be put to shame,
let not my enemies exult over me.
No one who waits for you shall be put to shame;
those shall be put to shame who heedlessly break
faith. R.

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
and for you I wait all the day. R.

Remember that your compassion, O Lord,
and your kindness are from old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O Lord. R.

Good and upright is the Lord;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way. R.

All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
For your name’s sake, O Lord,
you will pardon my guilt, great as it is. R.

Prayer

All-powerful God,
whose mercy is never withheld
from those who call upon you in hope,
look kindly on your servants,
who departed this life confessing your name,
and number them among your saints forevermore.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen

Or:

Almighty God and Father,
by the mystery of the cross, you have made us strong;
by the sacrament of the resurrection
you have sealed us as your own.
Look kindly upon your servants,
now freed from the bonds of mortality,
and count them among your saints in heaven.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen

Father of Mercies and God of all consolation,
you pursue us with untiring love
and dispel the shadow of death
with the bright dawn of life.

[Comfort your family in their loss and sorrow.
Be our refuge and our strength, O Lord,
and lift us from the depths of grief
into the peace and light of your presence.]

Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
By dying has destroyed our death,
and by rising, restored our life.
Enable us therefore to press on toward him,
so that, after our earthly course is run,
he may reunite us with those we love,
when every tear will be wiped away.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen

______________________
ⁱ Pope John Paul II, on receiving the credentials of the new Ambassador to the Holy See from the United States of America, September 13, 2001.

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