Saturday, January 17, 2009

Saint of 9/11


In an enduring photograph of September 11, a team of rescue workers carry a Franciscan priest’s body from the World Trade Center.

The world came to know Father Mychal Judge, a Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York City, in death as a symbol of courage and sacrifice.

Saint of 9/11 presents the turbulent, restless, spiritual and remarkable journey of Father Mychal Judge. Compassionate champion of the needy and forgotten, a beloved Fire Department Chaplain, rousing Irish-American balladeer and iconoclast, Father Judge was a humble parish priest who wrestled with his own private demons while touching others in powerful and miraculous ways.

Throughout his career as a friar, he lived a life of witness, action and love. He provided hope, warmth, compassion, and acceptance.

Mychal Judge knew the pain of loss and suffering. He struggled with alcoholism and was an outspoken AA advocate. Through his own vulnerability, imperfection and fragile humanity, he was able to reach people in their pain, shame and fragility. Father Judge was a gay man who loved his priestly work.

---- Equality Forum

I doubt the Church will rush to have Fr. Mychal a Saint... after all he was an openly GAY Priest, (accepting his call to celibacy) and he was a very active member of AA, which spoke directly to his struggles and imperfections. He did not write deep poetry in the woods or climb the ladder of heirarchys... INSTEAD, he took a Firemans Ladder and devoted his life and in the end gave his life to that Ministry. He was 68 years young when he died... Fr. Mychal was not bitter towards the way things were within the Church he loved... he was HOPEFUL and that more than anything is what I think makes him a Saint! He was hopeful that this was our time. A time when Gay people would be no less accepted than any other people within the confines of a Church that promises to care for the oppressed and the poor.... Fr, Mychal knew full well, as most Saints do, that it is Jesus that calls us marginal folks. He LOVES us and has given us a desire to seek Him in all that is broken in our lives through others who are still oppressed and "Terrorized"... yes, it is fitting that Fr. Mychal Judge be the Saint of 9/11. He fought against Terrorists his ENTIRE life...

5 comments:

  1. I agree that the Church in its present state of thought and belief would never make Fr. Mychal a Saint however as you stated he ought to be made a Saint by the mere way he lived his life...struggling every day with the gifts of his imperfection. Yet I would argue that in fact that he is already a Saint cannonized by the Love of those he served and who he brought Hope to every day and that his death was much more a than just a continuation of his fight against terrorists but more to exemplify that TRUE love of Jesus Christ for eveyone especially his marginalized children. To Saint Mychal I will pray to interceed for all those remain in the margin of the Church and society, may he raise up our prayers to the One who LOVES us unconditionally as we are ALL created in his image.

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  2. Point taken! He is a Saint whether they say so or not... thank you for clarifying that....and to St Mychal I ask... "pray for us".

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  3. It's too bad the Church no longer proclaims saints the way they did in the old old days before canonization became a political and financial charade.

    Fr. Mychal would already be a saint because of the esteem in which everyday New Yorkers hold him. Instead we get St Josemaria Escriva the founder of Opus Dei. Great.

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  4. It doesn’t matter whether he is ever formally canonized -- Mychal Judge is already a saint both by the grace of God, and by widespread acclamation of the faithful.

    For most of the church’s history, saints were declared by popular acclamation of the faithful. Rome only took control of canonization in the 14th century.

    Consistent with the older tradition, Mychal may be properly styled a "Saint". Even prior to his heroic death on 9/11, he was widely seen as a living saint for his deep spirituality and his extraordinary works of mercy.

    The spiritual reality of Mychal’s sainthood is underscored by at least three medically documented miraculous healings through his intercession. In the end, God makes saints, not Rome.

    Nothing is stopping us from praying to Mychal Judge today and asking for his help. And I can tell you from experience that he hears and responds.

    For more info on Father Mychal, visit:
    http://SaintMychalJudge.blogspot.com

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  5. Mychals Prayer...thanks for the post. Its encouraging and Hopeful to hear that Saints answer/intercede regarding prayers... thanks again for the info. and link.

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