Bishop reflects on 9/11 and Christ’s question: ’Who do you say I am?’

PARSIPPANY  Just one day after the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney reflected on the day in his homily at the most recent youth Mass and prayer gathering in St. Peter the Apostle Church here Sept. 12.

He asked the teenagers — who were not born yet on the day of the attacks — what are some of the lessons they have learned about this tragic day in America’s history. One young person responded by answering “the importance of unity,” which was shown in abundance in the immediate days and weeks after the attacks.

“There was a tremendous sense of unity,” said the Bishop. “For those of us who lived through it, it’s almost hard to think when we see division or that we are not united to say that it really happened. There was a time when everybody was looking to see how they could help. It didn’t matter what you believed, what your politics were, where you came from.”

Another response the Bishop received from a young person is that we must never forget. The Bishop said, “It is important that we always remember.”

Since January, Bishop Sweeney has been meeting with young people from around the Diocese once a month for Mass and a Holy Hour, each at a different parish. The last gathering was held in June at St. Margaret Church in Morristown with the theme, “the Eucharist.” The youth events each begin with Mass followed by brief talks by young people and then Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with music. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also offered to the teens at each event. This month after a summer hiatus, the youth gatherings have resumed and the theme for the month was “Faith.” Father Paul Manning, vicar for evangelization and executive director of St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison and youth minister of the Diocese, coordinated the gatherings.

In his greeting to those in attendance at the Mass, the Bishop recalled the importance of gathering with the young people during the pandemic. “There was a sense among the youth ministers since the beginning of the pandemic to come together as young people, to do youth ministry as we are familiar with doing it. We come together tonight for our monthly Mass and vigil and we come on this night of Sept. 12, 2021 when yesterday we paused as a nation to remember the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. As we listen to the Word of God tonight, God will speak to us about who we are and who we are called to be.”

Reflecting on the Gospel for the Mass, the Bishop said, “Imagine Jesus coming to us and saying, ‘Hey guys, who am I? Who do people say that I am?’ ”

The young people responded, “The Messiah.”

The Bishop said, “The next thing Jesus said was, ‘You want to be my disciple?’ If he asked this, what would you say? Yes or no? Do you know what you had to do if you want to follow Jesus? You had to be willing to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”

Reflecting on 9/11, the Bishop said, “What does the Gospel have to do with Sept. 11? On that day, the Word of God took flesh in an incredible way because people who grew up in a family and learned to say their prayers and had been baptized and received their First Holy Communion and received the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, they decided to say, ‘I’m a Christian. I believe in Jesus and I know this might mean I am going to share some hard and difficult times to have to share in his cross. But I believe in him so much. I would be willing to risk my life to save another person.’ ”

Following Mass, a prayer service was held with Adoration of the Blessed Sacra­ment. Six priests, including Bishop Sweeney, were available to hear confessions. During the Holy Hour, Angelina Fernandez, a high school sophomore, shared her reflections about faith.

Fernandez recalled her recent experiences on a mission trip to West Virginia with her youth group led by John Cammarata, youth minister at St. Peter the Apostle Parish.

“Like many of us here, COVID completely changed my world. Changed our world. At times, it felt I could not even take a breath. There was constant fear and what challenged me the most was uncertainty,” said Fernandez.

With her youth group, she felt an instant connection among the volunteers and chaperones during the mission trip. Fernandez said, “It was those moments at 7 a.m. that I felt closer to God than ever before. That I believe in something much greater than myself.”

Fernandez shared some lessons she learned during the trip that there is always hope. There is always a plan and finally, she said, “I realized that faith is meant to be put to the test. It is a journey that we are all in. But, at the end of the day, we are the ones who determine how strong our faith is. We are the ones that chose to trust, chose to put in the work, chose to be humble, and chose to love.”

The next youth gathering will be held at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Sparta on Friday, Oct. 8 and then at St. Cecilia Church in Rockaway on Friday, Nov. 12. All youth and their parents are invited to attend either one or both of these gatherings that begin at 7 p.m.

At the end of his homily, the Bishop said, “Jesus is asking you and me, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Who am I in your life? With Peter, not only in our words but also let us pray in our actions that we can say day-by-day, ‘you are the Christ. The son of the living God.’ ”