FR. BRENDAN MCGUIRE

I remember 9-11, twenty-five years ago. I was in the rectory at St. Lawrence Parish, as that second plane crashed into the tower, and then watching the two towers burning. It is seared into my memory. Then the following hours of confusion and anger, and then eventually watching both buildings collapse. I remember every moment of it. It is as if it happened yesterday. I remember in particular the next day, those hours after, the sky was silent. It was eerie. There were no commercial airplanes flying anywhere for days. There was a deep sense of eeriness, and of shock and anger. In the days that followed, I remember how the anger rose up in the nation and demanded revenge.

When I was growing up in Ireland, you would turn on the tap and have water, just like you guys do, right? The difference is, in Ireland, there is no bill. Water is free. Never charged for it.

Human behavior scientists maintain that in order to change one’s behavior, the person who actually wants to change needs to desire to change. That sounds so obvious, right? If you want to change something, you have to actually want to change it.

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit my close friend and mentor, Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson. Lloyd is a towering figure in the American church, especially in Los Angeles. He is eighty-six years old, still pastor, and he has been pastor over thirty years. He is still as sharp as a tack. He has this wonderful way. He is so hospitable. He is such a generous human being. He meets me, and it is always the first thing he says: “Brendan, you are so wonderful. I love you.”

This last week we had a great opportunity as a parish and school staff to go away on a day of retreat. It was wonderful just to be away and to spend a day in prayer, holding up the whole year ahead. I introduced the theme for the year: Flourish: Cultivating Dignity Through Presence.

I just got back from vacation. I had been in Florence for a conference on artificial intelligence for the first nine days, where I gave four presentations over those days. Then I had the great opportunity to go to Sicily and visit with a friend of mine, with another friend, and we spent two weeks there. It was great to catch up and see my friends, but I must confess, one of the struggles with vacation is that you get out of your routines, right? You do not have as much control of the environment, and that was certainly my case.