Kirkepiscatoid: Remembering "The Saint of 9/11"

Remembering "The Saint of 9/11"

Lord, take me where You want me to go,
let me meet who You want me to meet,
tell me what You want me to say,
and keep me out of Your way.
--Prayer of Mychal Judge, OFM

If I were allowed one edit of "Holy Women, Holy Men" it would be to give Fr. Mychal Judge a feast day on Sept. 11.

I won't re-iterate the whole story; it's well described at this site. Additionally, you can watch the documentary on him here.

But for me, he's why those of those of us who embrace a more catholic form of Christianity (be it of Episcopal/Anglican persuasion, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox) pay attention to the calendar of saints and liturgical feast days.

We forget just how human saints are when we start writing icons and creating paintings and statues. But I can sit with the humanity of Mychal Judge.

Friar.

Alcoholic.

Gay man.

Follower of Jesus in a way that sometimes ran afoul of those who had authority over him.

A person unashamed to laugh loud, weep deeply, pray always--and in the hour that became the hour of his death, to be unafraid to enter the gates of that Hell called the North Tower to find his sheep, praying almost until the moment of his death.

He's a saint to me because my deepest hope is that I could have that level of fearlessness in following Christ, and my deepest fear is that I would not.

But because of him, I can feel confident that someone whose humanity I can identify with IS capable of it. God forbid and God willing, I hope I could do the same if it were me.

St. Mychal, pray for us on this September 11.