Remembering 9-11

This special ceremony was supported by a special color guard featuring our school safety patrols.

Mr. Hammond gave an address to mark the anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001.

Mr. Kypros and Mrs. Lynch lead students in a chorus of "Go Make a Difference" to punctuate the ceremony.

Mr. Hammond's Address:

I welcome you, family and friends, to this moment of re-membering and the pain, the healing, the defeat, the victory, the despair, the hope, the death and the resurrection that are part of who we have become since the 11th of September in 2001.

Forgetting is that lovely faculty which aids us in dismissing the sting of pain and tragedy.

But some things must not be forgotten. Their lessons are too great, too dear, too important for us to give them over to the hands of fickle Memory and her kind facility of forgetting.

We must re-member those many people whose earthly lives passed in this act of hate which occurred such a few years ago, recognizing that for some our little ones, 9-11-01 was literally a lifetime ago.

And what have we learned? We have learned:

If we choose to allow God’s love and will in our lives, God will take our greatest human tragedies, our greatest pain and transform them into a grace that transforms us into a stronger, a better and more loving people. In such times, we can more clearly see and more powerfully feel the presence of Jesus.

Our Jesus, Emmanuel, which, as you know, means “God with us” IS with us even when we are broken and wounded.

God sent Jesus to testify to the Truth and to be rejected, beaten, broken and even murdered, so that, step by step, we would see that He understands and embraces our pain, and we could appreciate that from despair and death, comes hope and life.

The destruction of 9-11-01 teaches us to put Jesus in the center of our lives, not out of fear, weakness or vulnerability, but out of wisdom, humility and strength. Let us never forget that.

Shortly after the aftermath of the tragedy, the President and Congress passed a resolution that this day should become known and observed as Patriot’s Day in recognition of not only the fallen on 9-11-01, but in respect of each and every one of us who are wrapped in the banner of freedom of this remarkable and dynamic country, the United States of America, in which we live and for which we hold allegiance.

Young or old, let us strive to be good patriots working hard to make our nation a light to the world. A place where strength is leveled against evil; A place of hope for those in need of refuge; A place of healing for those who are broken; A place of opportunity for the powerless, A place of peace, A place of Beauty, Truth and Love.

It begins and ends with a choice. Your choice. A choice that invites you to place God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the center of your lives. It is a choice that offers your will to God, and your desire to be powerful vessels of His Way. The Way of Jesus.

In that one act of choosing, you become both free agents of the Truth and a legacy of God’s love. There are no more powerful forces in the world and they are yours to claim. And I encourage you to claim them and fearlessly, persistently be good Patriots to our great nation and grateful servants to our awesome and loving God.