In Memoriam: Fr. Mychal F. Judge

I'm not going to spend much time today thinking about Osama bin Laden. Instead I will take some quiet time to remember my friend, Fr. Mychal Judge, the New York City Fire Department chaplain who rushed to the World Trade Center on 9/11 to administer the last rites.

When the South Tower collapsed, flying debris flew into the lobby of the North Tower, where Judge was caring for the dead and dying, praying over and over again, "Jesus, please end this right now! God please end this!"

The debris killed Judge. His body was found by a New York City police detective and carried outside with the aid of fire fighters, where it was placed in a body bag labeled "Victim 0001," the first official victim of the World Trade Center attacks.

Judge was buried on at the St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st St., with an audience of 3,000 including his beloved firefighters and Bill Clinton.

Many consider Judge the epitome of a saint - I knew him as an imperfect but marvelous human, struggling as I did and do, to find a spiritual path.