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Twenty-Fourth Sunday of the Year
11 September 2011
Dear Friends in Christ,
Ten years ago today our nation was plunged into war, and none who were alive that day will ever forget it. It was a bright Tuesday morning, and a perfect late summer day. Then the glory of blue skies was obscured by black smoke, falling towers, and the agony of thousands of innocent people murdered in the name of God by men who hate this country and the entire civilization of which we are a part.
While the last battles in the War on Terror are yet to be fought, much progress has been made in this decade: the Taliban in Afghanistan were routed first; the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein was brought down next; al-Qaeda operations around the globe were disrupted; multiple planned attacks against the United States were prevented; most of al-Qaeda’s senior leadership are either dead or behind bars, including their infamous terrorist-in-chief, Osama bin Laden. This progress, of course, has come at a great price in American blood and treasure, and conducting this long, twilight war on so many fronts has strained our national unity severely. Among the things, I believe, for which we should be grateful in this tragedy is the courage of the young men and women who have stepped forward to volunteer to serve in our Armed Forces and defend our nation and the free world against the violence that would otherwise have been visited upon us in so many terrible ways. Al-Qaeda is an Arabic word which means “The Base”, as in a base of operations. But Al-Qaeda’s full and proper name is the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Crusaders and the Jews. The ultimate goal of al-Qaeda is the creation of a worldwide Islamic caliphate in which Sharia law will rule all nations. We may regard this aspiration as a lunatic delusion, but such lunatic delusions often drive world history (see, for example, Revolutionary France, Nazi Germany or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). Our enemies killed 3,000 of our countrymen ten years ago today because they follow a bizarre ideology based on a false religion of hatred and violence, and we must never lose sight of this essential dimension of the ongoing War on Terror.
Today in New York City, at Ground Zero, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum will be dedicated and opened to the public. Construction on the new buildings of the World Trade Center is underway, and in due course the tallest building in our nation will once again stand on the tip of Manhattan as a beacon to the world that the Land of the Free is open for business. But on this day, let us remember the fallen and pray for them and their families and give thanks to God for the gift of liberty and the generosity of those who defend our freedom, particularly those who have given their last, full measure of devotion. May God bless the United States of America.
Father Newman