Remember.

Every "talking head" has discussed the events of September 11, 2011 - 10 years ago today - until at times the shock and pain of that day is present again. Perhaps more muted, but never totally gone.

Some think it is hyperbole to say that 9/11 changed us. I believe we have been irrevocably changed.

At the age of 59, I remember a handful of events that were so momentous that I can't forget where I was or how I reacted when I learned of them. The assassination of John F. Kennedy, Jr. The shuttle explosion. And a senseless act when extremists used airplanes full of passengers to attack us, filling everyone I knew with a sense of horror and disbelief.

One of the people I heard on the radio yesterday said that Americans have since developed an undercurrent of dread. He cited two examples. The first was the earthquake which was felt along the east coast recently. That's a rare occurrence. It's not unusual or totally unexpected on the west coast. But many of those in New York and Washington immediately thought of a bomb when they heard the rumble and felt the ground shift.

In his second example, he spoke of being at Reagan airport when an exceptionally loud clap of thunder was heard. For just a second, he said, he thought it might have been a bomb.

This sense of dread may have diminished in the 10 years since 9/11, but it is never completely gone... at least not for me. I don't like the changes that have been wrought in me or in my country since that awful day. I don't like the fleeting thought that crosses my mind when a woman in a burqa boards a plane with me. I don't like the level of mistrust and anger I see in some of the people I know. And I feel somewhat hopeless when I contemplate the potential we have to achieve true peace.

What about you? How have you been affected by the events of 9/11, now that a decade has gone by? Do you think the U.S. has been forever changed? 

Loving God of peace and unity we gather this morning in prayer, faith and solidarity as together we mourn the violent attacks against innocent lives which took place in our country ten years ago.

9/11 has brought us face to face with the human struggle of good against evil. Help us to understand that this struggle between light and darkness, peace and war, between violence and harmony, between hatred and love must first begin in each human heart.

Your son, Jesus, has set before us a world where peacemakers hunger and thirst for holiness, justice, merciful compassion and peace. He calls each one of us to bring more light, harmony, peace, and love into our world as a way to eradicate hatred and violence. As part of the human family, we must love and treat one another with respect, decency and justice - this is our way to contribute towards true and lasting peace.

We pray especially today, Lord, for those who have died in these tragic and horrible acts of violence which took so many lives in four different acts of terrorism. We pray for their loved ones who have suffered their loss so keenly and we ask your blessing upon all those who are working to curb violence in our city and our world. Finally, God of justice and peace, we ask you to give each one of us the strength to walk in the light-filled path that Jesus has shown us so we may be agents of human solidarity, justice and true peace in our world today.

We ask these blessings together as we ask all good things through Jesus Christ your Son, who is our way, our truth and our life.

Amen! 

-- Sister Mary Berchmans Hannan, VHM
Georgetown Visitation