"Father Mike Went on Ahead to Greet Them All" - Beliefnet.com

"Father Mike Went on Ahead to Greet Them All"

The fire chaplain whose death was the first to be recorded at the World Trade Center would have been the first to forgive.

BY: An interview with Officer Steven McDonald, by Wendy Schuman

One of the many crushing losses of the World Trade Center attack was the death of Father Mychal Judge, 68, a Franciscan friar and a chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, who was killed by falling debris on Sept. 11 while giving last rites to a dying firefighter. Father Mike, as he was known, was a close friend and spiritual advisor of Police Detective Steven McDonald, who in 1986 was shot in Central Park by a 15-year-old he was questioning about a stolen bike. McDonald remained near death for months, unable to speak. Each day a priest came to his hospital room to say mass with the young detective and his wife, who was expecting a child. Often that priest was Father Mychal. Paralyzed from the neck down and still on a ventilator, McDonald later reached out to his assailant and publicly forgave him. He has since made it his mission to speak about the healing power of forgiveness. McDonald spoke with Wendy Schuman, Beliefnet's family producer, about how Father Mike influenced his life and his faith.



Father Mike's death was the first one officially recorded at the World Trade Center. Tell me about your relationship and what he meant to you.

I'm sure there were people who died earlier when the plane exploded, but Father Mike's was the first death certificate recorded. That was significant, because he was already on the other side bringing in those people who died and suffered so terribly. Father Duffy, his good friend, said in his eulogy that Father Mike never could have dealt with the deaths of more than 300 of his men if he hadn't gone ahead to greet them all. That's what his whole life was about. It wasn't about Father Mike, it was about helping everyone else, and that's why he was so loved. He had an AIDS ministry before he became a fire chaplain.

Why do you think Father Mike was taken at that time?

Because God needed him more than we did, and He's making good use of him. I'm sure there are many people who believe that this is all there is, the world we live in. I don't believe that this is it. And Father Mike is there in that next life comforting those people that have passed on from this terrible tragedy. His work has just begun. God is using him in ways we can't even begin to imagine. I once heard someone say that the pain we carry with us to the next life is the love we leave behind in this life. So if that's true, then Father Mike is helping them understand that everything will be OK.

Continued on page 2: »

Wendy Schuman is Beliefnet's Family Producer.

Related Topics:

Faiths, Love, Life, Imperfect Way, Family, Father Figure, Fire Chaplain, God, Catholic, Mike Went, Forgiveness, Death Certificate

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