When America was attacked by terrorists on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, a war landed on the doorsteps of our homes. It's a different kind of war than what we're used to. We heard many comparisons to the attack on Pearl Harbor in news casts throughout the day, with the comment: "At least back then, we knew who our enemy was." Yes, it's a different kind of war, but not because we don't know our enemy. We Christians do know who the Enemy is. God's Word says, "Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and powers of darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).
This attack was different than Pearl Harbor in that war was made against the everyday person. It was not soldier against soldier, military might against military might. The people who were attacked and sacrificed their lives had not chosen to participate in this war. Many were civilians who had not signed up in a military recruiting office to risk their lives in defense of their nation. None were aware that they might die for their country (or in the case of those who came from other nations, for a foreign country). They were you and me. They were our brothers and sisters. They were our friends.
America was attacked because the American PEOPLE -- you and me and our family members and friends and co-workers -- are hated. That's why the enemy used commercial airplanes as weapons. That's why the enemy waited until the offices were open and filled with workers.
The World Trade Center's towers were targeted because the enemy thought THIS is the symbol that represents the American people they so hated. The World Trade Center was not chosen primarily to disrupt our economy or to disrupt our nation and make it vulnerable to further attack. The Center represented what the enemy thought was their justification for hating us: materialism, capitalism, and greed.
They thought they were attacking the heart of America and the hearts of Americans.
Little did they know that those buildings no more represented the true America than the dust those towers became. What really is America cannot be attacked by suicidal airplane hijackers or knives or guns or bombs. What really is America rose up strong and mighty as the towers fell. All across the nation, people turned to God and prayed. Even those who normally don't go to church took time to pray. Officials who were interviewed on television, where normally the Christian faith is mocked or ignored, called the nation to prayer. Businesses everywhere stopped working, not just to watch the television newscasts, but to pray together; gone was their focus on materialism, capitalism, and greed.
Of course, America's materialism will continue, and not everyone prayed. But what this nation was founded on, and what is still imprinted on our money ("In God we trust"), was not destroyed by the terrorists. In fact, it grew stronger. The real America grew stronger in the face of the enemy!
As Christians, we have now entered into a new opportunity, where the true Enemy (the powers of darkness) can be defeated more widely than in recent decades. The blood shed by the martyrs of this war will be used by God to fertilize the soil of people's hearts to grow conversions and stronger faith. Now is the time for us to speak up about our faith, to evangelize by reaching out with compassion and empathy.
Now we can stop when someone at work or a neighbor or a stranger in the grocery store is having a bad day, is hurting, or is in need of help, to say to them, "May I pray with you?" And they will be ready to find hope in God's healing touch.
Now is the time to give God's compassion to those who are angry and wanting revenge on the terrorists, for many of them are ready to find out that there IS another way of responding to this call to war, a way that brings personal, inner peace.
Now is the time to bring God's comfort to those who lost their loved ones and those who are afraid. Now is the time to touch those who are hurting so badly that they cry out, "Where was God in this?" They are longing to discover that God's help was indeed everywhere -- in the first plane crash that did not hit the tower any lower, in the second crash that delayed arriving long enough for many people to evacuate safely, in the Pentagon crash that hit the part of the building where remodeling was under construction and therefore offices were empty, in the Pennsylvania crash that never reached its target and fell on trees instead of people, in the stories that will soon start coming out about heroes and amazing escapes.
The blood shed by the martyrs of this war will be used by God to fertilize the soil of people's hearts in this "new springtime of evangelization," this new era of faith that Pope John Paul II proclaimed at the beginning of this millennium.
Jesus gave us the weapons of war that will crush the Enemy (in Luke 6:27-38): "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who attack you." These are the weapons that will bring us true victory as we proceed to lift America out of the shattered ruins of Tuesday's attack on the American people. These are the most effective weapons we could have. We must use them in our own lives and hand them to others, teaching them how to use them, too.
"Forgive, and you will be forgiven." No hate-filled terrorists can take away from us the peace that comes from this simple truth -- unless we let them. We find our peace by praying: "Father, forgive them, for they really didn't know what they were doing. They didn't understand Who You are and what YOU wanted them to do. Lord have mercy on their souls. Bring all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Your mercy."
St. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12-17: "You are God's chosen ones. Therefore, clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy." He repeated what Jesus said: "Forgive whatever grievances you have against others. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you."
Mercy is love that is not deserved. If we want to win this war, we must love those who do not deserve our love. We must pray for their souls and hope that when the suicidal hijackers met their Creator at the moment of death, they did not hate us so much that they wanted nothing to do with Love as He stood before them. If we can imagine ourselves standing at the gates of heaven with Christ, when He opened His arms to welcome the terrorists into His home if they wanted to come, happy that God is so merciful, then we have won the war.
Because of God's mercy, it's possible that most of the thousands of victims who died ran into Jesus' open arms, even if they had not totally given their lives over to Him before the terrorists struck. In the moment of dying, when they looked into eternity as it fast approached them, Jesus was there. Only God knows how they responded to that. If they wanted love, surely they got it!
Since we receive comfort in knowing about such mercy, let us commit ourselves to God's mercy today. Together, in unity, we can pick up and use the weapons of love that He has given us and conquer the real Enemy.
