Summer is customarily considered over once Labor Day has passed. School days are well underway and most vacation time has been completed. Even in southern Florida, the days are growing noticeably shorter in daylight as the sun visibly casts longer shadows upon the earth. Soon many of our winter residents will be returning to get away from the colder days the winter will bring to their homes. Nature prepares for the shift of seasons as even squirrels in southern Florida scurry around burying food for frigid days and the snow of winter they will not experience.
No matter how we may wish to slow it, time moves on. The earth continues to rotate every 24 hours and to move around the sun every 365 days while angling back and forth on its axis. God has placed a marvelous rhythm into the days and seasons which repeat in various ways in different parts of the world. The familiar pattern of seasons is faced by each of us every year with new attitudes and insights as life experiences change. Even our bodies, a little older, are not quite the same as they were at this time last year. Many events, some quite dramatic, have occurred in our lives and our world. The pattern of passing days and years may seem the same, but we know what they bring is not.
Looking back 25 years ago at this time, there is no question that the warm rays of the sun are casting longer shadows on a very different world. The lower part of Manhattan no longer sees the shadows of the Twin Towers. As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, we all the more realize they are ones that we can and should not forget. Many lives disappeared with the shadows of the Twin Towers, and many other lives carry shadows of their loss. The reality of evil and sin made itself very manifest through the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001.
However, the shadows of this evil pales in comparison to the healing shade of goodness which also became manifest on and after that Sept. 11. We have experienced the prominent power of good in people joined together after this tragedy as well as acts of heroism and self-sacrifice, which have been an inspiration to many. We have all been involved in a determined effort to blot out war, terrorism and hatred from our world. Our own faith in Jesus Christ has again revealed that the power of His Resurrection is able to transform even death itself.
As time moves on and we move from summer into fall, we are all reminded of the passing of our days and our ultimate departure from this revolving earth created by God. Our faith tells us that our departure from time brings us into eternity. The reminder of this passing brings a new perspective to all that we experience in time. There is only one constant and that is God, in whose brilliant shade we live. It is our faith in God, who made this world for us out of love, that remains the same. That faith is our focus both in dark shadows and refreshing shade. Because of sin and the limitations of this world, our happiness will only be complete when we pass from this world and are with God in eternity. Hatred, evil and sin still are present among us, and we experience them in many wars and injustices within our world today.
As we reflect upon the movement of time, on this 25th anniversary of the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, it is most fitting to reflect upon that which remains constant in our changing lives and that which gives us meaning at all times. That is faith, hope and love. Jesus tells us, “Behold, I make all things new. ... I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev 21:5,6). He also reminds us that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mt 24:35), and “I am the Resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:25-26). Jesus reminds us of His primacy in our lives and in the world while He also reminds us of the passing nature of the world. How appropriate it is always to place before us the words of the Book of Revelation: “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be His people and God Himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away” (Rev 21:3-4).
All of life is God’s and is meant for Him. Happiness is found in living with this focus, which enables us to face the changing nature of life, with its joys and sorrows, with our hope fixed on eternal life. Next year at this time, we will come to the moment of the passing of another Labor Day and of summer. We will again commemorate Sept. 11. The earth will repeat its motions, and we will watch the changing shadows at different degrees reflected by the sun as the earth moves around it. During the rhythm of the seasons, we will experience many new things in our lives that will shade the manner in which we view the world. The world will definitely be different, and so will we. Our faith, hope and love will make it a better place. That will be so because that which should remain beyond a shadow of a doubt is the reality of our relationship with Christ, who is constantly faithful to us. It is only that relationship which will help us to move happily through time, and ultimately out of time and into eternity.
Twenty-five years after Sept. 11, 2001, there is a moving memorial at the sight of the World Trade Center. The memorial encompasses the two areas where the Twin Towers once stood, which have now been made into the largest man-made waterfalls in the country. The names of all the victims from the Sept. 11 attacks surround the two waterfalls and all of this is part of an open green space which is a public park. The World Trade Center Memorial is literally in the glittery shadow of the new One World Trade Center. Indeed, the memorial serves as a tribute to all those who lost their lives and whose lives were changed due to the attack of Sept. 11, 2001. It is a tribute to the power of goodness over evil as experienced in the heroic efforts of those who sacrificed themselves on that day, as well as the continuing efforts of all after that tragedy. For those with faith in Christ, it will also be a reminder of the power of His Resurrection, which has conquered evil and overcome death.
The psalms encourage us to always live in the shadow of God. As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, may all our coming labors this year be based, beyond the shadow of a doubt, on the reality that God is at the center of all we do as we continue to live in His shade.
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
