2003-09-21 The dolorous anniversary of September 11 has once more come and gone...

September 21, 2003

The dolorous anniversary of September 11 has once more come and gone, and it is apparent from the prayerful response of our people that this date will ever be etched in our cultural memory. Two years ago in that same week I became pastor of the parish. In the brief time since then, New Yorkers have rallied and so many of our own parishioners have been marvelous. Parish life has gone on, not in the Stoical sense but in the Christian way of hope. We have been blessed by unprecedented evidences of grace. In those 24 months, this parish has had 101 baptisms and 117 weddings, and this bodes well for the culture of our parish and city.

By God’s grace we have been able to widen our outreach through several new study and catechetical groups which have an increasing appeal to the young and young of heart. The Archdiocese has approved our own Pre-Cana program which now serves many area parishes as well. Our new annual Papal Day already has spread to many nations and was recognized by the Pope himself. EWTN televises pictures of our church worldwide and, through the efforts of many faithful it is finally broadcast in Manhattan too.

Various professional organizations and fraternal societies enjoy the hospitality of the parish and our outreach has extended to programs for pregnancy counseling and pre-natal care. The parish’s support of the recent Cardinal’s Appeal was the best in our history, helping charities throughout the Archdiocese. With great thanks the Cardinal burned our mortgage which had been a burden for 47 years. Through the efforts of many, the Restoration Fund has just passed the million dollar mark, more than half way in the cost of repairing this great building, and the scaffolding is about to rise. The bulk of support for these projects comes from a small percentage of sacrificial givers, moving all to examine their consciences to see how everyone can be a good steward.

The heart of the parish is the worship of God, and our liturgies have been enhanced in many ways, anticipating the most recent guidelines of the Holy See. The music program is enriched by a new voluntary choir, whose voices are a sacrifice of praise and whose generosity is a major gift to the parish. Improved aesthetical lighting, gifts of worthy vestments and art, refurbished sacred vessels, and above all a new Tabernacle are reminders of the Christian’s first duty to give the best to God.

This is a holy response to the evil of September 11, two years ago. It is just a start. Two years from now will be the parish’s Fiftieth Anniversary. Good works begun should now proceed at a more fervent pace so that this parish will be grandly fixed to face the challenges of the new millennium.

Fr. George W. Rutler