Hey everybody this is Steve,
and together we can rebuild.
It can be difficult to recover from
pain and tragedy. The experience can burn itself into our memory and change the
way we see the world.
People remember where they were when they heard President Kennedy was shot,
where they were when they heard the Challenger exploded, where they were
when they heard the twin towers fell.
I was in my dorm, getting ready for class when my mom called.
You know that look people sometimes have when you're just
white as a ghost, like they're petrified, like they've just
experienced something terrible? That's how my mom sounded on the phone.
She spoke frantically, she said she wasn't at work; she was at a conference,
that she was okay, not to worry,
but that others needed to use the phone, so she had to go.
You see my mom worked at the World Trade Center in New York.
Though on September 11th, she was, thank God, far from the destruction;
destruction that I didn't even know about when I was talking to her on the phone.
I didn't have a cell phone or anything at the time, so I didn't even know what my
mom was talking about
until I turned on the TV a few minutes later,
and saw the first tower fall.
The nation grieved and continues to grieve, though it's a testament to the
power of the human spirit that
we could look through the ash and the haze, and amidst the twisted rubble,
see the cross.
A church building was part of the destruction that day, but it will also be part
of our moving forward.
The Orthodox parish of St. Nicholas was founded in 1916.
Three years later the congregation raised enough money to buy the iconic
whitewashed building that stood near the base of the Twin Towers,
and was the home of the Congregation for the next eight decades.
Eight decades of baptisms, eight decades of funerals,
eight decades of liturgies and marriages, eight decades of people walking in to say a
prayer and light a candle on the way to work,
eight decades until that little church building was crushed
under the weight of the collapsing Twin Towers.
Those candles may have been snuffed out on September 11
but God will not abandon us in the darkness. The light of Christ
will never be extinguished. As St. John the Evangelist tells us,
"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it"
Thirteen years after September 11th, we finally have the opportunity to
begin rebuilding St. Nicholas!
Groundbreaking is scheduled for October and the design of the new church building
is incredible. The new St. Nicholas will sit on a hill in the middle of
New York's financial district.
It'll stand right next to the September 11th Memorial, and in the shadow of the
new one World Trade Center.
Imagine in the middle of all these office buildings
in the middle of downtown New York
there will be one house of worship,
a place where the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated
and the kingdom of God will break through into this broken world of ours.
The story of St. Nicholas, which began in 1916,
is now tied up with the story of September 11. So this new church building
is going to include a bereavement and meditation space,
where anyone can walk in to pray, to think, to be at peace in a safe and welcoming place.
We can't pretend that we haven't suffered, that we haven't experienced
real tragedy but we can move forward. We can offer our troubles up to God
and we can welcome Him into our lives, to heal us and to guide us.
This resurrected St. Nicholas will be a reminder to us all
that fear and sin and violence and death will never prevail.
Nothing will ever defeat the hope and the life that God has prepared for us
as passersby see the new St. Nicholas shining in the night
it'll be a reminder to the millions upon millions who see it every year
that nothing can overcome God's light.
We can be a part of this powerful witness to the Gospel.
Together we CAN rebuild.
How can you help?
Most importantly, pray. Please pray that this new St. Nicolas will be a
light to the millions of people who will see it every year.
The story of St. Nicholas is one of pain and loss,
but also one of hope and renewal; it's a very human story,
one that the whole world should hear. And you can share this story
with your family and friends by doing something as simple
as sharing this video. If you want to do even more
you can visit StNicholasGroundZero.org and give whatever you can.
Every dollar we raise is one step closer to a new St. Nicholas.
Whatever you decide to do is important, and will be a part of the rebuilding
of St. Nicholas.
However we decide to give to this project, we can take away the reminder
that we worship Christ.
Who suffered like we suffer, who leads us through
any tragedy life throws at us.
Remember, because of Christ, the cross is followed by the resurrection,
and by the grace of God and together with our humble prayers and help,
the rubble and destruction at Ground Zero will give way to a new church building,
a new St. Nicholas, place of prayer and worship,
for the peace and healing, not just of this city
but of the whole world.
So let's Be the Bee, and help rebuild St. Nicholas.
Be the Bee, and Live Orthodoxy!
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I'll see you all next week!