BRAINTREE -- Archbishop Richard G. Henning marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks delivering the invocation and benediction at the rededication of Logan Airport's 9/11 Memorial, followed by a Mass at the airport's Our Lady of the Airways Chapel.

American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, the two planes that terrorists crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on 9/11, both originated from Logan. A total of 147 passengers and crew lost their lives.

In his rededication of the memorial with the addition of a new bronze wreath to mark the anniversary, the archbishop referenced the Catholic Church's tradition of blessing churches and cemeteries to make them holy. At Logan Airport, he said he found "that there's more than one way to make ground holy."

"I feel very truly that we are standing right now on hallowed ground, holy ground," he said.

He entrusted the day to God's mercy and prayed for the victims of 9/11 -- not just the attacks themselves, but those who succumbed to illness and injury in the years following. He also prayed for their families and the first responders who provided relief at the sites of the attacks.

"May the memory of their courage and selflessness continue to inspire us now and in the generations to come," he said. "And may their souls find the peace that only you, Lord, can give."

The archbishop also prayed for those who died in the ensuing wars.

"We pray for peace in our world, in our communities, our families, and our hearts," he said. "And we pray for the safe return of our servicemen and women around the world. We pray for the men and women who work so hard in this airport to serve and protect the good of all. May they themselves be protected from harm, and may we across this region be ever grateful for their hard work, discipline, generosity, and goodness."

He also delivered a benediction at the end of the rededication ceremony.

"We ask that you stretch forth your hand of blessing upon this memorial and its many artifacts, reminding us of that day, calling us to remembrance and prayer," he said. "Let this place be a reminder to us and to all who visit that evil will never triumph while men of goodness and faith sacrifice themselves for others, and that love conquers all, even death itself."

Following the rededication, airport personnel and guests were invited to join the archbishop as he celebrated a special Mass at the airport's chapel. Concelebrating with him were Fathers Paul Aveni and Brian Daley of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Winthrop, which provides pastoral care for the chapel.

In his homily, the archbishop said Sept. 11 was "a day about memory," even if the attacks don't feel that long ago.

"Memory is one of those realities of the human condition that cuts both ways," he said. "Memories of trauma and loss can be deeply painful. It's hard sometimes to think back on that day and all that we witnessed and experienced."

With memory comes the choice of how to respond to the people and situations that we remember.

"The only choice," he said, "is when you turn outwards towards others."

He added, "when the moment of trauma becomes not a moment where we lose ourselves, but where we find purpose."

Jesus turned outward toward others, he explained, and the Mass itself is not merely a memory but Jesus's lasting gift to humanity. In that, he said, Catholics "find strength," which "carries us out the doors and into our everyday lives, our families, our communities, our work." Indeed, at every Mass the words "Do this in memory of me" are said.

"That memory makes us who we are as a Church," Archbishop Henning said, adding, "Let us open our hearts to the gift of the Eucharist to find here in this memory the truth that the Lord was with us, the Lord is with us, and the Lord will ever be with us. It is he here today who offers us the hand of friendship, the word of healing, and the strength to go on."



REPORTING BY GREGORY L. TRACY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY.