9/11 – WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Catholic Homily

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, the memories still feel remarkably close. I was 27 years old, only two years into the priesthood, serving at a parish less than 15 miles from the Twin Towers. We could see them burning. We heard the military jets overhead. And in the weeks and months that followed came funeral Masses—including for two young men, ages 25 and 29, whose names I’ve never forgotten. But remembering 9/11 raises a question deeper than simply, “Where were you?” Where are you going? Today’s Scriptures remind us that this world was never meant to be our final home. St. Paul tells us to “run so as to win,” and Jesus challenges us to open our eyes and examine our own lives. Remembering how fragile life is isn’t meant to make us afraid. It should make us awake—and unwilling to waste the life God has given us. Based on 1 Corinthians 9:16–19, 22–27; Psalm 84; and Luke 6:39–42. Read the homily at Homily on the Spot: https://homilyonthespot.com/2026/09/11/9-11-where-are-you-going/