Here are our upcoming Newman Center events. Hope to see you all there, especially at Mass!!
1) Today, Sept 11 - GWU 9/11 Remembrance Vigil at 6:30 pm in University Yard. I will be one of the people offering a prayer. Hope you can make that and then join us for our Scavenger Hunt at 7 pm at the Newman Center.
2) Sunday, Sept 13 - Opening 5 pm Mass at Mt. Vernon campus ("the Vern") with Pizza to follow; 7:30 pm and 10 pm Masses at St Stephen's (Come to Mass, for Christ's sake)
3) Monday, Sept 14 - Bible Study, 7-8 pm, Newman Center. We will discuss the Mass readings from Sunday and how they relate to college students.
4) Tuesday, Sept 15 - Free dinner, 6 pm, Newman Center (Mass at 5:30 pm).
5) Wednesday, Sept 16 - "Wacky Wednesday" at the Vern, 9-11 pm. The focus will be on service - we'll watch a powerful movie on the life of Mother Teresa and make sandwiches for those who are hungry.
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Today is the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our country on Sept 11, 2001. We all remember where we were when we heard and watched the shocking news coming out of New York, DC, and Pennsylvania that morning. It was, of course, surreal.
I invite you to leave a comment here describing your experience from 9/11/01.
I was taking an exam in the seminary. The dean of studies came into our classroom and quietly told our professor what was going on. He could easily be described as the 'absent-minded professor'. The dean left the room, and the prof said, "gentlemen, two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center. Thousands of people are dead". We were all like, 'what?!' Needless to say, we all did miserably on the exam. I did the best I could to finish the exam and then ran to watch the unbelievable events transpire on TV.
Late in the morning, there were reports of a fourth hijacked plane flying over the suburbs of DC which is where my family lives. I tried to call them, but all phone lines were down. It was a scary hour. Finally, I reached them and all were safe. Then, as we headed over to a packed Mass with the Mount college students to pray for all the victims, we heard that Camp David was a possible target of the fourth plane. Our seminary, Mount St. Mary's, was right next to Camp David. It was extremely tense on top of all the other emotions that all Americans felt that day.
As with GWU, members of the Mount St Mary's community perished that day. A girl from the college whom I know lost her father who was in one of the World Trade Center towers. It is chilling to see all of the names on the list of victims, but especially the name of Mr. Rhodes. Here is a very small portion of names from the list here, and ask you to pray for all the victims and their families at some point today:
Gordon McCannel Aamoth, 32, New York, N.Y.* Maria Rose Abad, 49, Syosset, N.Y. * Edelmiro (Ed) Abad, 54, New York, N.Y. *Andrew Anthony Abate, 37, Melville, N.Y. *Vincent Abate, 40, New York, N.Y. *Laurence Christopher Abel, 37 *William F. Abrahamson, 58, Cortland Manor, N.Y. *Richard Anthony Aceto, 42, Wantagh, N.Y. *Erica Van Acker, 62, New York, N.Y. *Heinrich B. Ackermann, 38, New York, N.Y. *Paul Andrew Acquaviva, 29, Glen Rock, N.J. *Donald L. Adams, 28, Chatham, N.J. *Shannon Lewis Adams, 25, New York, N.Y. *Stephen Adams, 51, New York, N.Y. *Patrick Adams, 60, New York, N.Y. *Ignatius Adanga, 62, New York, N.Y.*Christy A. Addamo, 28, New Hyde Park, N.Y.*Terence E. Adderley, 22, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.*Sophia B. Addo, 36, New York, N.Y.*Lee Adler, 48, Springfield, N.J.*Daniel Thomas Afflitto, 32, Manalapan, N.J.*Emmanuel Afuakwah, 37, New York, N.Y.Alok Agarwal, 36, Jersey City, N.J.*Mukul Agarwala, 37, New York, N.Y.*Joseph Agnello, 35, New York, N.Y.*David Scott Agnes, 46, New York, N.Y.*Joao A. Aguiar Jr., 30, Red Bank, N.J.*Lt. Brian G. Ahearn, 43, Huntington, N.Y.*Jeremiah J. Ahern, 74, Cliffside Park, N.J.*Joanne Ahladiotis, 27, New York, N.Y.*Shabbir Ahmed, 47, New York, N.Y.*Terrance Andre Aiken, 30, New York, N.Y.*Godwin Ajala, 33, New York, N.Y.*Gertrude M. Alagero, 37, New York, N.Y.*Andrew Alameno, 37, Westfield, N.J.*Margaret Ann (Peggy) Jezycki Alario, 41, New York, N.Y.*Gary Albero, 39, Emerson, N.J.*Jon L. Albert, 46, Upper Nyack, N.Y.*Peter Craig Alderman, 25, New York, N.Y.*Jacquelyn Delaine Aldridge, 46, New York, N.Y.*Grace Alegre-Cua, 40, Glen Rock, N.J.*David D. Alger, 57, New York, N.Y.*Ernest Alikakos, 43, New York, N.Y.*Edward L. Allegretto, 51, Colonia, N.J.*Eric Allen, 44, New York, N.Y.*Joseph Ryan Allen, 39, New York, N.Y.*Richard Lanard Allen, 30, New York, N.Y.*Richard Dennis Allen, 31, New York, N.Y.*Christopher Edward Allingham, 36, River Edge, N.J.*Janet M. Alonso, 41, Stony Point, N.Y.*Anthony Alvarado, 31, New York, N.Y.*Antonio Javier Alvarez, 23, New York, N.Y.*Telmo Alvear, 25, New York, N.Y.*Cesar A. Alviar, 60, Bloomfield, N.J.*Tariq Amanullah, 40, Metuchen, N.J.*Angelo Amaranto, 60, New York, N.Y.*James Amato, 43, Ronkonkoma, N.Y.*Joseph Amatuccio, 41, New York, N.Y.*Christopher Charles Amoroso, 29, New York, N.Y.*Kazuhiro Anai, 42, Scarsdale, N.Y.Calixto Anaya, 35, Suffern, N.Y.*Jorge Octavio Santos Anaya, 25, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, MexicoJoseph Peter Anchundia, 26, New York, N.Y.*Kermit Charles Anderson, 57, Green Brook, N.J.*Yvette Anderson, 53, New York, N.Y.*John Andreacchio, 52, New York, N.Y.*Michael Rourke Andrews, 34, Belle Harbor, N.Y.*Jean A. Andrucki, 42, Hoboken, N.J.*Siew-Nya Ang, 37, East Brunswick, N.J.*Joseph Angelini, 38, Lindenhurst, N.Y.*Joseph Angelini, 63, Lindenhurst, N.Y.*Laura Angilletta, 23, New York, N.Y.Doreen J. Angrisani, 44, New York, N.Y.*
4 comments:
A month before 9/11 I had had a huge fight with my best friend we weren't talking, we were living in the dorms as undergrads and I knew her dad worked in the Pentagon sometimes as part of his job. When I heard a plane had crashed into the pentagon, especially that wing where he would go a few times a month I ran up 3 flights of stairs to her dorm room and just hugged her and waited with her until she got through to her family, it took a while because as you said everything was down.
The fight was about me being monumentally selfish and a jerk and though I had done some work on that she really didn't like me so much at the time. 9/11 repaired our friendship it showed her I wasn't quite so self absorbed as she thought I was, now our friendship is so strong we are practically family.
I also remember having to help lock down our campus because of bomb threats and threats on Muslim students(I interned with U.Police).
At that time, I was working at home in the mornings so that I could have time with me then-infant daughter. I took a break to nurse her, and turned on the news just in time to see the second plan hit live on TV.
I drove into work shortly afterward (leaving C with a freaked-out sitter, concerned about family in NYC). Seeing all the traffic coming out of DC while I drove from Silver Spring to Bethesda was a surreal experience.
The hospital at which I work was placed on standby to take patients from the Pentagon if there were enough causalties to overwhelm the nearby hospitals. The atmosphere was so tense that walking through the halls was like trying to swim through gelatin. [The only other day that has come even close to being that distressing in my 20 years there is the day Conrad Johnson, the last of the DC sniper victims died. Our staff had struggled and failed to save several other victims, and they were heartsick.]
I drive past the National Institutes of Health on my way to work. In the weeks and months following 9/11 I watched the campus turn from an open, university-like setting to a fortress. Even my sister, an NIH employee, was mystified by the hyper-stringent security measures.
The tall iron fence that now surrounds the NIH campus is a daily reminder of the fear that gripped our nation following 9/11. We were kicked in the face with the fact that there are those who hate us and want to destroy us, for reasons beyond our ken. Perhaps we're safer as a result of the security measures put in place - but I'm not sure that we're better off.
I was a junior in high school and I remember that the fire alarm had just sounded. I was President of the Student Council and knew there would be a drill that morning so I was one of the first out of the building. As people poured out of the school, there was chatter about a fire in the pentagon. After the all clear was given at about 9am Chicago time, we walked into our second block classes. For me, second block was a Spanish class and since we were working on group projects, our class was meeting in the Media Center. Upon walking into the media center for class, both televisions were on showing both of the twin towers. My classmates and I were in complete shock. Our teacher at the time quickly mentioned that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. She indicated that our country was under attack. At that moment, the bell rang at 9:10am. Our Principal came over the P.A. to explain the situation and cancel all after school sports and activities. Our school was also locked down. I will never forget the footage from that day. I will also never forget the scenes of the Sears Tower being evacuated and people pouring out of downtown Chicago. I'll never forget the announcements that Depaul University would close. I will simply never forget 9/11.
i was in the middle of a job interview; the interviewer just looked @ me stunned and i was like; interview over? she just nodded her head yes. i had no idea of the magnitude until i got in my car and turned on the radio. I have a deeper sense of how horrific it must be for families that live in war zones. i wish all the fighting would stop! Peace.
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