God's Priest - Hero of 9/11

Father Mychal F. Judge was the son of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Leitrim on May 11, 1933, the firstborn of a pair of fraternal twins. With his twin sister Dympna and his older sister Erin, he grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. during the Great Depression.

His lifelong affinity for the poor began at a young age; he often gave his only quarter to beggars on the street.At the age of six, he watched his father die of a slow and painful illness. To compensate for his father's inability to work, Judge shined shoes at New York Penn Station from where he would visit St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street. Seeing the Franciscan friars there, "I realized that I didn't care for material things," he later said, "I knew then that I wanted to be a friar."

In 1948, at the age of 15, Judge began the formation process to enter the Franciscan community. He trained at three seminaries in New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire before receiving his BA degree from St. Bonaventure University. He completed his training and was ordained a priest at Holy Name College in Washington, DC in 1961. Upon entering the Order of Friars Minor, he took the religious name of Mychal.

From 1961 to 1986, Judge served at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, St. Joseph Parish in East Rutherford, NJ, Sacred Heart Parish in Rochelle Park, NJ, and St. Joseph Parish in West Milford, NJ. For three years he served as assistant to the president at Siena College in Loudonville, NY. In 1986, he was assigned to the Monastery of St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street, New York, where he lived and worked until his death in 2001. Around 1971, Judge became an alcoholic, although he never showed obvious signs. In 1978, with the support of Alcoholics Anonymous, he became sober and continued to share his personal story of alcoholism to help others facing addiction.

In 1992, Judge was appointed Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York. As chaplain, he offered encouragement and prayers at fires, rescues, and hospitals, and counseled firefighters and their families, often working 16 hour days. "His whole ministry was about love. Mychal loved the fire department and they loved him."

In New York, Judge was also well known for ministering to the homeless, the hungry, recovering alcoholics, people with AIDS, the sick, injured, and grieving, immigrants, gays and lesbians, and those alienated by the Church.

For example, Judge once gave the winter coat off his back to a homeless woman in the street, later saying, "She needed it more than me." When he anointed a man who was dying of AIDS, the man asked him, "Do you think God hates me?" Judge just picked him up, kissed him, and silently rocked him in his arms.

Even before his death, many considered Judge to be a living saint for his extraordinary works of charity and his deep spirituality. While praying, Judge would sometimes "become so lost in God, as if lost in a trance, that he'd be shocked to find several hours had passed." 

"He achieved an extraordinary degree of union with the divine," said Judge's former spiritual director, Fr. John McNeill. "We knew we were dealing with someone directly in line with God."

Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit, Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. Judge administered last rites to some lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center north tower where an emergency command post was organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured and dead.

When the south tower collapsed at 9:59 AM, debris went flying through the north tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge. At the moment he was struck in the head and killed, Judge was repeatedly praying aloud, "Jesus, please end this right now! God please end this!"

Shortly after his death, firefighters found Judge's body and carried it out of the north lobby. This event was captured in the documentary film 9/11, shot by Jules and Gedeon Naudet. Shannon Stapleton, photographer from Reuters, photographed Judge's body being carried out of the rubble by five men. It became one of the most famous images related to 9/11.

Father Judge's body bag was labeled "Victim 0001," recognized as the first official victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Former President Bill Clinton was among the 3,000 people who attended his funeral, held on September 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan. It was presided over by Cardinal Edward Egan. Clinton said his death was "a special loss. We should live his life as an example of what has to prevail." Judge was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey. On October 11, 2001 Brendan Fay organized A "Month's Mind Memorial" in Good Shepard Chapel, General Theological Seminary, New York. It was an evening of prayer, stories, and traditional Irish music.

Some Catholic leaders recognize Judge as a de facto saint.  His helmet was presented to Pope John Paul II. France awarded him the Légion d'honneur. The U.S. Congress nominated him for a Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 2002, the City of New York renamed a portion of West 31st Street "Father Mychal F. Judge Street", and christened a commuter boat "The Father Mychal Judge Ferry".  Alvernia University, a private independent college in the Franciscan tradition in Reading, Pennsylvania, named a new residence hall in honor of Judge.

The Father Mychal Judge Walk of Remembrance takes place every year in New York around the 9/11 anniversary. It begins with a Mass at St. Francis Church on West 31st Street, then proceeds to the site of Ground Zero, retracing Judge's final journey and praying along the way. Every September 11, there is also a Mass in memory of Mychal Judge in Boston, attended by many who lost family members on 9/11.

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
 
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
 
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Matthew 25:31-40

God Vs. "Church"

It seems that today the majority of people are fed up, disenfranchised, disconnected, and so on with "Church." The idea of having to go to a building for an hour or two a week just because maybe you're "supposed too" really doesn't cut it for majority of people today. In tough economic times, people grow tired of hearing that God wants them to give more, more, more, so He can continue doing His work and convert more people into Church pews. I think the bottom line, to quote Solomon, is that for most people Church is "Nothing new under the sun."

In my view, the problem is that people confuse Church and church (and for good reason). The denominational Church system is designed for one thing: to sustain itself. And in order to do that, it needs to get more tithe giving units, a.k.a butts in pews. That's why evangelists always talk about the number of baptisms or the number of people introduced to Jesus, which of course encourages people to give more to the evangelism funds and causes that all Church's have. What they rarely (I'd go so far as to say never) tell you is how they connected all those new conversions with a church in any sustainable way. The evangelist preacher moves on to the next town, and doesn't really think about what the next step for the new converts might be.

For those already in the church, it's all about tithe and offering (because tithe is never enough). God, in His wisdom, asks for 10% of our increase, so if you got laid-off your job and and struggling to survive on savings, God does not ask you for 10% of what you have left. The Church, on the other hand, talks about the need for money and funds to do this, that, and the next thing, and the 10% minimum is just never enough. And then you end up repeating the evangelistic rally I described a second ago. That is the nature of the denominational system. It cares only about sustaining itself and not a whit about people's relationships with God. It's just a system, after all.

I mentioned that there is also church. This is made up of local people who study together, fellowship together, and are on a journey with each other. The ministry the church does is in how the lives of its people are lived, and that includes helping and supporting others in need. God calls us from the front of the Bible to the back to take care of the poor. Jesus Himself said that "You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me." (Mark 14:7).

If you read Acts, you see that this connected group of people, this church, prayed together. With each other, for each other. They pooled their possessions and shared what they had. The result was that there was not ONE needy person in that whole group of thousands (Acts 4:32-25)! And their ranks grew because people saw how much these people loved each other, just as Jesus had told them to do (John 14:34-35). That didn't mean that their lives were easy, more often than not they were persecuted and killed, but they could count on each other for comfort and support no matter WHAT they struggled with! They lived truly as the prophet Zephaniah says:

Seek the Lord, all who are humble,

and follow his commands.

Seek to do what is right

and to live humbly. (Zeph. 2:3)

Personally I don't often attend a high Church service. When I do sit in an actual service, I'm fortunate enough to have found one that tries to be connected in this way, and even if I'm not physically there I'm blessed that the service is streamed live online so I'm able to connect in some way. But what I do go to every week, almost without fail, is a small group study. That, truly, is my church. We study together, journey together, socialize and fellowship together. We have different tastes, opinions, and ways of doing things, but we're in this together, and it's wonderful. To me, that is truly my church.

In the end, I think that the denominational system Church (any denomination) does a lot to impede people forming a meaningful relationship with Jesus. Not that it can't happen, but it's made more difficult. To me, the essence of church is those personal connections we make with fellow sinners who don't have all the answers, either. People we can study, learn, and grow with as we all seek to build that personal relationship with our loving God.

That's how I see it, anyway. I do hope that no matter your views on things, we find the friends and fellowship with other people who are seeking a connection with God (and don't have all the answers).

In Persecution, the Light Carries On

If you look back in history, after the Apostles had all died off, the Church admirably carried on their work with zeal for a couple hundred years. But over time, the Church (shortly thereafter called the 'Catholic' or 'Universal' Church) begin to become enamored with its own power and authority. After Constantine gave it power in the State, the egocentrism exploded, like fuel on a fire.

God spoke of this when He said: "I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

"But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches." (Rev. 2:2-5)

They did start out strong, and while many began to accumulate power in their own understanding and were able to use religion for personal influence, there were some who remembered the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, some who, against all odds, stayed true to the simple law of God (Matt. 22:37-40):

1. Love God
2. Love Others
   

The Waldenses stayed true to God, and the Catholic Church declared them heretics—the group's principal error was "contempt for ecclesiastical power"—that they dared to teach and preach outside of the control of the clergy "without divine inspiration." As such, these devout followers of God were persecuted, murdered, chased into the hills, but they could not be extinguished! They realized fully what the Apostle Peter spoke of:

"Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit." (I Peter 3:13-18)

The Waldenses realized, as the Apostle Paul had centuries before, that following God was the greatest thing a person could do. They saw, as Paul did, that "[E]verything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith." (Phil. 3:8-9)

The Seventh-day Adventist church has always identified with the Waldenses and their plight. One of the church's founders, herself a young adult at the time, wrote of work of the Waldenses of carrying the light of truth out of the dark ages and following the Spirit of God above all else. The zeal of Mrs. White and her young adult contemporaries ignited a movement that would become the Adventist Church.

But, just as the Catholics of old, the founders died off and the Church retreated from spreading the Word to upholding the institution. No longer is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." and "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:30-31) the bottom line. These days, you can't really love God unless you're a good Adventist and fully embrace all the Church's theology and teachings (because that makes you a good Christian follower of God). And you can't really love your neighbor unless you can convert them and have them baptized into the Adventist Church.

Fortunately, even in these trying times, when the Church holds secret meetings to find the best way to extinguish Word of God (and let's face it, throughout the entire history of humanity this has taken place) that deviates from the man-made theology, the Spirit of the Lord will preserve the Lord's truth and, like Peter and John of old, God's followers will stand up and say: "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20).

And to those who meet in secret meetings, councils, synods, to extinguish the Spirit of Truth because it doesn't match your human theology, I pray that you remember the wise words of Solomon:

"God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." (Eccl. 12:14)