Courage via Obedience

This next Tuesday, September 11, the nine foot tall Our Lady of America statue will be enthroned in St. Peter's Church in downtown New York City as a memorial service/Mass will be held to celebrate the life of Fr. Mychal Judge, the Fire Department Chaplain who perished in the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11/01.

Fr. Judge was administering last rites to two deceased victims of this terror strike when he was caught in the rubble. SO IMPRESSIVE was his influence on his fellow firefighters, his was the first name placed on the official casualty list put out by the NYFD.

As one would expect of someone held in such high esteem by his fellow workers, it is probable that there will be an overflowing crowd of firefighters and civilians looking to again pay their respects to this admirable priest who so valiantly served as Chaplain for the men and women who so readily put themselves in harm's way to serve the greater good. Would you say this was COURAGE that inspired Fr. Judge to be in that building that day or OBEDIENCE to his calling to serve his fellow man with pastoral care? The answer is: Fr. Judge's Obedience to God's will manifested itself in what we all came to perceive as a Courageous act.

Fr. Judge always asked for nothing for Christmas because he always said he already had everything. When the Holiday season rolled around, he would engage others in a long diatribe of how God had blessed him with so many things that there was nothing more he could ever want. There was a certain tranquility about him that came from his acceptance of his role in God's plan and his desire to be obedient to whatever God requested of him. We should all aspire to attain this level of acceptance of God's will.

Our Lady of America has made a request of the US Bishops and the rest of us (laity). If we are obedient and do as She has asked of us all, it may give the appearance to others in this world that we too are courageous as Fr. Judge was.

Our Lady has asked that Her image, as Our Lady of America, be placed in the National Basilica in Washington, D.C. after being solemnly processed by Her Bishops. This is a mandate that only the Bishops can perform, but the laity also have a role to carry out that may be even harder than that of the Bishops. The laity are being called on to embrace a cultural revolution by opening "our hearts, our homes, and our land to the coming of Jesus Christ". No easy task in this age of moral collapse in virtually ever media outlet we confront.

Once we open our hearts and love the messages and institute them in our family lives (our homes), we will then spread this new way of living and loving throughout our country which will, in effect, be the cultural revolution Our Lady is calling for.

It's not too late. We can all be considered courageous like Fr. Mychal Judge. We just need to be obedient and do God's will.