Change is everywhere – physically in the leaves, earlier nightfall and lower temperatures. It’s in our office – we said goodbye to Amy Taylor, former co-editor of MyFaith, who took a new position as communications coordinator for the archdiocese, and welcomed Ricardo Torres, 24, who joined the Catholic Herald staff as a reporter and new co-editor of MyFaith Sept. 6; learn more about him in January!
It’s in the pages of MyFaith – we welcome N’Jameh Camara and Fernando Espino as columnists who offer unique young adult perspectives.
It’s in the church pews – where the new Roman Missal translation will make its debut this Advent. Are you welcoming the changed phrases in prayers and responses with open arms?
It’s in the world, especially after Sept. 11, in the way people live their lives and the way they make sense of everyday events and their faith formation. Ten years later, young adults continue to honor the day that holds emotionally charged memories, even from miles away. Everyone has an answer to “Where were you on Sept. 11? What were you doing? Who were you with? My dad was teaching his class at Waukesha County Technical College when he heard the news. He felt sick to his stomach and the first thing he did was called my mom. She was at home with my 2-year-old sister, Tasha, thinking that the news was part of a movie until she realized that the local anchors were starring in this horrible reality TV newscast.
Tanya was in Spanish class at Hartford Union High School, shocked and sad, wanting to go home. Her now-husband Shaun, who was working construction, was shocked when a truck driver told him about the attack, then hoping it wouldn’t lead to war. The librarian led Troy’s middle school class to a TV and explained what the cloud of smoke billowing out of the building represented.
Tammy was walking down the hall at Herman Elementary School when a classmate ran down the hall screaming, “The Twin Towers have just been attacked!,” but she didn’t understand why it was a big deal until they gathered around a TV in the library. Travis came home from elementary school and asked Mom the reason for her puzzled look. I was in geometry class in my sophomore year of high school when the first announcement came over the loud speaker – I wanted to go home. We cried with the people who were mourning; we prayed for the world.
There’s one quote that sticks with me from the story, “Healing, hope after 9/11,” said by 24-year-old Eric Mueller. “I think, the world is a better place now than it was 10 years ago,” he said. Without Sept. 11, we wouldn’t have been pushed to our limit that forced us out of our comfort zone. We fell as a nation when the towers were hit and collapsed, when the plane crashed in Pennsylvania and when the Pentagon was hit. But it’s not the number of times we fall, just as long as we stand up together, as a nation in the end.
