Friday 11 September 2020

19 years ago

Commemorating today the tragic death of close to 3000 victims of September 11, 2001, in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. I was there in the midst of this tragedy and since I lost one of my parishioners, Peter Klein, I share with you today photos that are very meaningful to me. The first one shows Ruth Klein, the mother of Peter next to a quilt she made in his memory, and which we used at his funeral which I led a few weeks later. Peter was one of the first victims since he was working at his 83rd floor in one of the Twin Towers, when the first plane hit right into his office. He had been married for just about a year, and was a former altar boy, a scout, and active in the community. 

The second photo shows a short quote I wrote on a tarp in Ground Zero, where people memorialized their loved ones with personal memories, teddy bears, photos, knick-knacks, or just a quote in all kinds of languages. I wrote mine in Maltese which says ‘Il-Bambin jiftakar fikom u l-Maltin jitolbu għalikom.’ (God remembers you and the Maltese pray for you.) Next year we’ll commemorate 20 years since this horrific tragedy, and it’s hard to believe that all the children born since then are now 19 and younger. Unfortunately, some of them never met their fathers. Let us pray and remember. 

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