Saint Mychal Judge

2007-03-31T11:54:01.034-05:00

Index: click these links for contents:

> Mychal's Life (Books, Film, Stories)

> Mychal's Heroic Death: details

> Mychal After 9/11 (Reflections, Honors, Continuing work, Organizations)

> Sainthood, Miracles, Patron Saint

> a Gay Saint in fact

> Quotes by & about Mychal Judge

> Prayers + Prayer Cards

Mychal's Prayer:

Lord, take me where You want me to go,

let me meet who You want me to meet,

tell me what You want me to say,

and keep me out of Your way.

Meditations:

“Mychal transformed the city's most forsaken hospital rooms into the most passionate places of worship." (Michael Daly).

"Mychal brought Jesus into every place he was called. Where Father Mike was, Jesus was there. He was a living example of Christ's love and forgiveness. He had limitless love, unconditional love." (Steven McDonald)

Fr. Mychal climbed up on a fire ladder and talked an armed hostage-taker into peacefully surrendering (1974). Mychal later said he had prayed but not been afraid, "You do what you have to do with God's grace." (Michael Ford)

"I, Mychal Judge, am not capable of doing these things on my own. I walk in, hold a hand, wipe a tear, say a prayer. But that's not me, that's the grace of God. I don't worry about the details, it's a mystery, it's God."

+ "Whoever believes in Me will do the works that I do, and will do even greater works... " (John 14)

Film of Fr. Mychal Judge praying in the WTC lobby just before his death... Here

Please contact members of Congress and urge them to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Fr. Mychal Judge. Details Here

Excerpts from the

Last Homily of Father Mychal Judge,

FDNY Chaplain, to Firefighters: Sept. 10, 2001

You do what God has called you to do. You get on that rig, you go out and do the job. No matter how big the call, no matter how small, you have no idea of what God is calling you to, but God needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us. God needs us to keep supporting each other, to be kind to each other, to love each other…

We love this job, we all do. What a blessing it is! It’s a difficult, difficult job, but God calls you to do it, and indeed, He gives you a love for it so that a difficult job will be well done.

Isn’t God wonderful?! Isn’t He good to you, to each one of you, and to me? Turn to God each day -- put your faith, your trust, your hope and your life in His hands. He’ll take care of you, and you’ll have a good life. And this firehouse will be a great blessing to this neighborhood and to this city. Amen.

See full text of Mychal's Last Homily here

2007-03-31T11:36:00.345-05:00

Home

Mychal's Life & Death

Film (Documentary):
Saint of 9/11
This film “reminds us that sanctity always
makes its home in humanity” -- America
> watch the film trailer here (2 min)
> watch the full film here (90 min)
> purchase the DVD here
.

Book (Biography):

The Book of Mychal: The Surprising Life and Heroic Death of Father Mychal Judge, by Michael Daly -- "the most definitive biography of Mychal Judge"

(Thomas Dunne Books, 2008: 388 pages, hardcover)

> Order from major dealers here

Interview with Book of Mychal

author Michael Daly here

"A lot of people thought he was as close to Jesus as anyone they’d ever met. And if Jesus laughed a lot, well then yeah, maybe ...

"If you had in your mind an ideal priest, the sort of person who really did bring God to people, and who really did comfort and steady people, and led by example, that was all Mychal.”

Book (Biography):

Father Mychal Judge:

An Authentic American Hero,

by Michael Ford

"a spiritual portrait"

(Paulist Press, 2002: 224 pages, hardcover).

> Order from major dealers here

Article: How did Father Mychal Judge die

Mychal Judge's death:

"Jesus, please end this right now!"

The details of Mychal Judge's last hour and death reflect the great heroism and holiness of his entire life... here

New Film:

Remembering Mychal

On Oct. 11, 2001, the friends of Fr. Judge gathered to commemorate his life. This “Month’s Mind” memorial celebrated the Mychal Judge who was much more than the hero presented by the media. These are stories told by his friends in all the different parts of his astonishing life -- parishioners, people in recovery, politicians, people living with AIDS, firefighters, the homeless, Irish Americans, musicians, and gay activists. Here the complex, real Mychal Judge emerges, the people’s Mychal Judge. (Director: Brendan Fay. Camera: Mark Corcoran. Editior: Mary Manhardt.) 45 minutes. Will soon be available for purchase or screening. Trailer here.

New Book:

Mychal's Prayer: Praying with Fr. Mychal Judge by Salvatore Sapienza: Tregatti Press: 2011. 110-pages, paper.

This is a must-get book for those seriously interested in the life and spirituality of Father Mychal Judge. Written by a former monk who worked with him, Mychal's Prayer is a series of prayers and meditations coupled with examples of how Mychal actually lived out those prayers. It points to ways we can also live more fully in the Holy Spirit according to the gifts God has given us. > Order from Amazon here.

Biography/ Article:

No Greater Love:

Chaplain Mychal Judge, OFM.

A Franciscan biography in

St. Anthony's Messenger -- here

“The happiest man on earth”
Eulogy by Fr. Michael Duffy, OFM

at Mychal's funeral: 9/15/01 -- here

Stories of Mychal’s life, some poignant,

some funny.

See also discussion,

"Is Mychal Judge a Saint?" here

Hear Mychal's voice!

at his last Mass on Sept.10, 2001:

"God needs you,

He needs me, He needs all of us."

from the Saint of 9/11 film:

> watch the trailer here (2 mins)
or
> the entire film here (90 mins)

(turn up sound).

Reflection:

The Saint of 9/11:

Discovering the Mystery of Easter

in the new documentary about

Fr. Mychal Judge

by Fr. Christopher J. Devron, SJ-- here

"Post-resurrection narratives continue to be written—as one was written in the story of Fr. Mychal Judge—and they are continually written in each of our own lives and hearts."

Reflection:

Andrew Sullivan- here

on Fr. Devron's article (above)--

"Jesus walked among us. And until he endured the final sacrifice, most of us didn't even know".

“The happiest man on earth”

Eulogy by Fr. Michael Duffy, OFM
at Mychal's funeral: 9/15/01 -- here

“Mychal passed through to the other side... to greet (the other firefighters) … He’s going to take them by the hand and say, 'Welcome, I want to take you to my Father.' And so, he can continue doing in death what he couldn’t finish in life”.

Reflections:

Steven McDonald on

Mychal Judge and Forgiveness

In 1986, NYC police detective Steven McDonald was shot and left permanently paralyzed. Fr. Mychal Judge became a close friend of the McDonald family, guiding Steven to forgive his assailant. Eventually, Steven made it his Christian mission to publicly share his story of forgiveness, including taking the message to the warring factions in Ireland, with Fr. Mychal.

In the first article, below, McDonald shares his thoughts on the life and death of Fr. Mychal Judge.
In the second article, he discusses his experience of the healing power of forgiveness.

here - and - here

Reflection:

The Love Story that emerged from

September 11 -- here

"It’s a Love that doesn’t come from us, but rather comes through us. It is the Love of God. During the attacks, we saw this selfless love over and over….
God's unconditional Love flowing through us….
Ego disappears, and concern about dying. Thats being lost in love, and living at your God-given potential."

Other Reflections:

Pope’s Prayer at Ground Zero here

Irish Prime Minister pays tribute here

by Ellis Henican (Newsday) here

The Wild Geese Today here

by Magic Mike here

by Peter S. Kahrmann here

.
The fire jacket and helmet which Fr. Mychal was wearing when he died - perhaps the holiest of his physical relics - are now on permanent display at the NYC Fire Museum. Amazingly, they were found intact in the WTC rubble in which everything else was pulverized. Story Here.

New York Times:
Admirers of Fallen 9/11 Hero Distain Vatican's Plan to Bar Gays as Priests.
Under the Vatican plan, even celibate, gifted, saintly men like Mychal Judge to be barred from priesthood.

here
.
.
Animated Cartoon (Mother Jones):
Gays not suited for the priesthood?
Think again....
Click here (have sound turned up).
.
.
Vigil Honors Fr. Mychal Judge

at Ground Zero (April, 2008)

On the eve of Pope Benedict’s visit to Ground Zero, several dozen people attended “A Vigil of Hope” in memory of Fr. Mychal Judge, which culminated at the corner of Vesey and Church Streets, where Mychal’s body was first placed on 9/11. Participants prayed for “our families and friends who died on 9/11… for a change of heart, for an end to prejudice against gay persons, for understanding, peace and reconciliation”.
(See photos at bottom of page)

Steven McDonald retraces Mychal’s
1998 peace pilgrimage to Ireland
In 1998, survivors of the Omagh bombing reached out to touch Mychal's robe as he walked among them. Steven McDonald returns ten years later.
(May, 2008) here

Video clip:

"Following Father Judge" --here

Father Christopher Keenan,

Mychal's successor as FDNY chaplain

New York Times:
Father Brian Jordan: Tending
to a flock in hard hats -- here
Fr. Mychal Judge recruited Jordan to the priesthood with the sales pitch: “Don’t be an unhappy lawyer. Be a happy priest." Jordan counted Judge as his mentor. Acting on Judge’s advice, Jordan has worked among immigrants as well as construction workers.

(Sept., 2008):

Gov. Sarah Palin meets 'Book of Mychal'
author Michael Daly near Ground Zero
NYT article: here ; Michael Daly column here

Mychal Judge Act becomes law
The Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety Officers Benefit Act became law in 2002. The law allows domestic partners of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty to collect their federal death benefit. Previously, only legal spouses, parents, and children of such public safety officers could collect the benefit. Gay partners were excluded because they could not legally marry. This is the first time the federal government has extended equal benefits to same-sex couples.

Mychal Judge nominated for
Congressional Gold Medal --
nation's highest civilian honor here

Mychal nominated for
Presidential Medal of Freedom
"Father Judge died as he lived - serving others...He was advised to move to a safer location, but he refused to leave his compatriots... he remained with them offering comfort and absolution until the end."

here

Mychal awarded

Presidential Medal of Valor -here

Faithful flock to Fr. Mychal's grave

New York Daily News (May, 2008) here

Photo Essay: Father Mychal Judge

New York Daily News (May, 2008) here

Pres. Bush cites Mychal's Prayer,

Mychal's Message, Shannon Hickey

at National Prayer Breakfast (2007)--

President Bush: "Father Mychal's humble prayer reminds us of an eternal truth: In the quiet of prayer, we leave behind our own cares and we take up the cares of the Almighty...

"Mychal's Message [organization] has collected and distributed over 100,000 needed items to the poor and homeless..."

here

New York Daily News:

"Mychal is still saving lives;

can you believe this?!"

The Late Father Mychal Keeps Busy

by Michael Daly: Aug. 3, 2005 -- here

Did Mychal's intercession get this woman life-saving brain surgery? Too many coincidences to be mere coincidence.

Patron Saint of thousands

In life, Mychal Judge ministered in extraordinary imitation of Christ, “like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart…” (Isaiah 40).

Many thousands now pray for his intercession for many causes. Those he helped in life, and whom he continues to help include --

firefighters and police officers,

children and seniors,

gays and lesbians,
families and single people,

and all those in distress;

struggling and recovering alcoholics,
children with autism,
pre-natal and heart conditions,

immigrants and refugees,

the homeless and the hungry,

the sick, injured, and frightened,

people with Aids and HIV,

the bereaved who’ve lost loved ones,

the falsely accused and hostages;

those betrayed by Church officials,

those who feel abandoned by God,

those doubting their faith,

those doubting their self-worth,

those awakening to God,

those returning to Christ,

those in spiritual renewal,

and those who minister to

“these the least of My brethren”.

Father Mychal Judge, friend of God

and friend of all, pray for us.

How beautiful are the feet of him who brings the Gospel of peace, announcing salvation and that

God is your king! (Isaiah 52)

Organizations

continuing Mychal's work:

Mychal's Message
Mychal's Message is a non-profit organization created to honor the life of Father Mychal F. Judge, O.F.M.
"It is a grace to walk in his footsteps and encounter the homeless and poor, meeting basic needs, while restoring dignity with love." We can help:
Click http://MychalsMessage.org
and feature story here

St. Francis Breadline, New York.

Every morning at 7am, Father Mychal would step out to the sidewalk in front of St. Francis church to distribute food, supplies, and blessings to the hungry and homeless. His Franciscan brothers continue this work today, and we can help. here
.
.
Father Mychal Judge CREATE Fund, New York.
This not-for-profit organization helps the recovery of individuals and families from homelessness, substance and alcohol abuse. Fr. Mychal was on its Board for many years, and Mychal's sister and fellow friars continue to serve on its Board.

"One of our greatest friends and helpers was Father Mychal Judge. We continue to remember him and hope to honor his memory with our work." More here

.
.
Father Mychal Judge Recovery Center

at St. Anthony's Shrine, Boston

Mychal's Franciscan brothers and professional staff provide comprehensive alchohol and drug rehab services in Boston. here
.
.
Mychal's Prison Project

We exist to be the hands of Jesus, reaching out to provide love to incarcerated LGBT people, in order to bring friendship, hope, healing and prayer to the isolated. here

The Father Mychal Judge Center
for Irish Exchange & Understanding
at St. Bonaventure University: here

.
.
Holy Name Province (OFM):
Fr. Mychal's Franciscan order
(Order of Friars Minor, founded by St. Francis)
here
.
.
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
Fr. Mychal's home church and monastery
on West 31 St. (renamed "Father Mychal F.
Judge Street"), New York City. here
.
.
Annual Fr. Mychal Judge
Walk of Remembrance, NYC:
annual 9/11 prayer walk from St. Francis church
to Ground Zero, tracing Mychal's final route.

Video of 2006 Walk here,

Video of 2010 Walk here
.
.
Annual Fr. Mychal Judge
9/11 Mass, Boston: here

2007-03-31T11:25:00.070-05:00

Home

Franciscan Saints

Is Mychal Judge a saint?

by John M. Kelley

Mychal Judge is already a saint whether or not he is ever formally canonized.

Both as a spiritual fact by the grace of God, and by widespread acclamation of the faithful, Mychal Judge is a true saint.

For most of the church’s history, saints were declared by popular acclamation of the faithful. Rome only took control of canonization in the 14th century. But the older tradition of popular acclamation of saints, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is still recognized in the Orthodox churches today.

.
Consistent with the older tradition, Mychal may be properly styled a "Saint". The faithful widely acclaim him as a saint and pray for his help. Even prior to his heroic death on 9/11, he was widely recognized as a living saint for his deep spirituality and his extraordinary works of mercy.

Most souls in heaven are never formally canonized but they are still saints, living in the beatific presence of God.

The spiritual reality of Mychal’s sainthood is underscored by at least three medically documented miraculous healings through his intercession (see below). In the end, God makes saints, not Rome.

As a patron saint, Mychal is actively praying for us in heaven, interceding with God for our prayer intentions. He promised to do so in his last public words on 9/11. As he rushed into the burning tower, Mayor Rudy Giuliani cried out, "Father Mike, pray for us!" Mychal called back, "I always do! I always pray for you!"
.
Mychal Judge never sought to be declared a saint. Like all the saints, he was a sinner who sought to do God's will. Saints are not perfect people. Their holiness lies in the fact that they allow God to work through their very imperfect, human lives.
.
Mychal Judge was and is a true saint. And like all saints, he should be imitated more than venerated.
.
Saint Mychal Judge, pray for us.

In his inaugural homily on April 15, 2009,

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan mentioned Mychal Judge, among other Saints, as a model for religious priests, brothers, and sisters. Dolan declared,

"The Risen Christ is alive in consecrated religious, women and men, in whom Elizabeth Ann Seton, Frances Xavier Cabrini, and Mychal Judge find most worthy heirs, as you continue to give the Word flesh in your simplicity of life, charity, and obedience."

God has granted at least three documented miraculous healings through Mychal’s intercession

In 1995, doctors told firefighter Joe Kennedy and his wife Christine that her unborn baby had hydrocephaly -- water on the brain, often associated with mental retardation. Mychal prayed intensively for weeks with both parents, laying his hands on mom’s belly. She later gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl. [Ford's biography].

The other two healings were granted after 9/11 when parents prayed to Mychal. A baby boy born with holes in his heart and due for surgery was spontaneously healed. And Matthew Brown's healing may be the first case ever of remission from autism.

(See here -- not noted in the article: Matthew Brown had been diagnosed with autism).

EDITOR'S NOTE: We at the SMJ website are also aware of two more miraculous healings which have not been published yet. Both in the Boston area, one involved a firefighter who was severely injured in the line of duty and was not expected to live. Immediately following a widespread novena to Fr. Mychal, he suddenly awoke from his coma and was sent home soon after (2007). The other case was of a boy stricken with a severely debilitating virus for which the doctors had no treatment. Following prayers to Fr. Mychal and the boy's reception of Eucharist, the boy suddenly began walking and talking again (2008). In both cases, clothing relics of Fr. Mychal were present.

New York Daily News:
"Mychal is still saving lives;

can you believe this?!"

The Late Father Mychal Keeps Busy
by Michael Daly: Aug. 3, 2005 -- here
Did Mychal's intercession get this woman life-saving brain surgery? Too many coincidences to be mere coincidence.

Patron Saint of thousands

In life, Mychal Judge ministered in extraordinary imitation of Christ, “like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart…” (Isaiah 40).

Many thousands now pray for his intercession for many causes. Those he helped in life, and whom he continues to help include --

firefighters and police officers,

children and seniors,

gays and lesbians,
families and single people,

and all those in distress;

struggling and recovering alcoholics,
children with autism,
pre-natal and heart conditions,

immigrants and refugees,

the homeless and the hungry,

the sick, injured, and frightened,

people with Aids and HIV,

the bereaved who’ve lost loved ones,

the falsely accused and hostages;

those betrayed by Church officials,

those who feel abandoned by God,

those doubting their faith,

those doubting their self-worth,

those awakening to God,

those returning to Christ,

those in spiritual renewal,

and those who minister to

“these the least of My brethren”.
.

Mychal Judge recognized as Saint

by the Old Catholic Church: here,

& the Orthodox-Catholic Church: here

(Scroll down on both of above pages).

Also see here and here

("Images of Saints")

+ Father Mychal Judge,

friend of God and friend of all,

pray for us that we may be made

worthy of the promises of Christ.

2007-03-31T11:24:00.283-05:00

Home

PRAYERS

& Meditations

Mychal's Prayer:
c. Holy Name Province
Lord, take me where You want me to go,
let me meet who You want me to meet,
tell me what You want me to say,
and keep me out of Your way.

> Hear Mychal's Prayer in Song: here

"Christ calls us to 'Pray without ceasing'. Mychal's prayer was not silenced by hatred, violence, or homophobia. His prayer will not cease but continue unto eternal life. This is most certainly true. Alleluia! Amen."

Prayer Cards:

Front & back of card.

Actual card is 5 x 2 inches, is on light card stock,

and has sharper features than above.

(A) to print cards yourself:

contact MychalsPrayer@hotmail.com

and we'll email you a sheet of 8#

as a Word attachment you can print yourself

(free of charge), OR

(B) to be mailed Mychal prayer cards

contact MychalsPrayer@hotmail.com

and we'll quote you prices to cover printing

and postage for various quantities.

Serenity Prayer *

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

* (Mychal was a sober alcoholic
& AA member for 23 years)

Novena Prayer for Healing

to Fr. Mychal Judge:
by Robert Hickey, c. Mychal's Message
Visit: http://www.MychalsMessage.org

God, our Father,

I ask for your mercy and compassion.
Jesus, our Lord,

I ask for your love and healing.
Holy Spirit, our Comforter,

I ask for your infusion
of the spiritual presence of God.

Holy God, through the intercession of

your servant, Father Mychal Judge,
I humbly ask for healing and good health for (MENTION NAME).

Dear Father Mychal,

friend to all on earth and in heaven,
please take (NAME) by the hand
and lead (HIM/HER) to

the healing power of God
through Our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ. Amen.

(Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be)

Thank You, Lord, for Life

by Fr. Mychal Judge *

Thank You, Lord, for life.

Thank You for love.

Thank You for goodness.

Thank You for work.

Thank You for family.

Thank You for friends.

Thank You for every gift

because we know

that every gift comes from You, and

without You, we have and are nothing.

As we celebrate this day in thanksgiving

to You, keep our hearts and minds open.

Let us enjoy each other's company, and

most of all, let us be conscious of

Your presence in our lives, and in a

special way, in the lives of those who have gone before us. Father, we make our prayer in Jesus' name, who lives with You forever.

* (spoken in his Last Homily on Sept. 10, 2001)

Prayer in time of loss of loved ones

by Fr. Mychal Judge *

God is present, loving, smiling, having received our loved ones. They are in His presence, illumed by His smile and warmed by His love. His kingdom is enriched this day, so enriched by so many beautiful souls. So much beauty.

Our world is empty without them. Our hearts are broken, our sadness immense, our tears so abundant. We live our sorrow together.

We need You, Lord. Please come and touch us. Fill us with courage. Calm our discomfort. Give us signs of Your presence. We ask You, we beg You: come.

* (at Memorial Service for TWA flight #800, 7/21/1996)

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,

have mercy on me, a sinner.

the Jesus Prayer, often recited by Mychal

.
Dear Saint Mychal,
come to our assistance
and share your healing grace among us
to give us strength
to carry on your good deeds.
(posted by George G. on Facebook)
.
+

.
Prayer for Strength with Fr. Mychal Judge *

.
Holy God,
Life is unpredictable, and at times frightening.
Give us the strength as you did Father Mychal Judge --
to face our fears head on.
Help us to meet our final moments
with dignity and grace.
Enable us with Your holiness to accept our duties.
With Your compassion, aid us in helping others,

even when our own lives are in jeopardy.

.
* written by the 10th graders at Holy Child School, Rye, NY
for Fr. Mychal's birthday: May 11, 2007.

“Mychal”

by Black 47 (Larry Kirwan)

listen here

In New York City I made my home
I loved the streets, the very stones
Cared for my comrades,

cherished my friends
Loved all beginnings,

had no time for ends
.
The city streets are full of woe
I saw suffering wherever I'd go
I did my best to console and heal
Treat each human with full dignity
.
I never saw a reason to hate
someone who thinks different than you
Each one has their anointed place
In the love reflected in God's face
.
We all have sorrow, our share of trials
We all are sinners in each other's eyes
Love alone can heal the pain
God bestows love in so many ways
.

I have my failings and I have tried
To look them squarely in the eye
To be there when someone might call
For I know cruel well how hard it is to fall

I love the company of friends

The fire and the music sparkling
in their eyes

But I achieved my heart's desire

When I rode beside the ones
who fight the fires
.
As I arise on this September morn
The sun is beaming down

the streets are warm
God's in His heaven and all is well
I will go forth and do His will

“All shall be well”
Prayer of St. Julian of Norwich
(often prayed by Fr. Mychal Judge)
.
In you, Father all-mighty,
we have our preservation and our bliss.
In you, Christ,
we have our restoring and our saving.
You are our mother, brother, and savior.
In you, our Lord the Holy Spirit,
is marvelous and plenteous grace.

You are our clothing;
for love you wrap us and embrace us.
You are our maker, our lover, our keeper.

Teach us to believe that by your grace
all shall be well, and all shall be well,
and all manner of things shall be well.
Amen.

Prayer when

an Emergency vehicle rushes by

Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy

on the Victims, the Rescuers, and the Healers.

Father Mychal Judge, pray for them.

Prayer for the Church Suffering
(for those Abused by Church officials)

Mercy of God deliver us.
Love of Christ heal us.
Spirit of God enliven us.

Most loving and just Lord, GOD,
pray have mercy on all who are
unjustly hurt, abused, and rejected
by Church leaders who fail
to shepherd Your flock rightly. (Ez 34)

Lord, have mercy on us all;
give us the grace to know Your will more clearly,
and the courage to follow Your ways more nearly,
in the name of Jesus Christ, our true Shepherd.

Amen.

+ Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
+ Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners....
+ Father Mychal Judge, friend of God
and friend of outcasts, pray for us.

+ Follow with a Scripture reading
(suggestions: Ezekiel 34, Matthew 11:28-30,
Mark 6:34-44, or John 10:7-18)

Prayer for Innocent,

Falsely Accused Priests *

They cried out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

Pilate said to them, "I find no guilt in him.

Take him yourselves and crucify him." (John 19)

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God,

falsely and maliciously accused by the mob,

have mercy on us.

Jesus Christ, Lamb of God,

handed over to death by cowardly authority,

have mercy on us.

Jesus Christ, Sun of Justice,

vindicated by your Resurrection,

grant us justice.

Father of Truth,

send the light of your Holy Spirit into the darkness

of every false accusation and unjust condemnation.

Give strength to the innocent to stand firmly in truth,

as you gave to Jesus, in the face of torture and death.

Give courage to church and civil authorities

to grant justice and due process to the innocent,

in the face of the mob.

Father of Mercy,

deliver your innocent ones from evil;

grant them speedy justice and vindication,

in the name of Jesus Christ, our Victim and Savior.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on all

innocent victims: the abused and the falsely accused.

(Follow with Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be)

* NOTE: Fr. Mychal fought for the vigorous defense of a falsely accused priest in 1988-89. The priest was acquitted when it was shown he'd been framed, and the evidence fabricated. (Ford biography: pp. 120-123).

Patron Saint Prayer at Consecration of
St. Mychal Judge Old Catholic Church,
Dallas, Texas (2002)
Visit: http://www.MychalJudge.com
.
We praise Thee, O Lord, for the example and assistance given to us by Thy holy Saint Mychal Judge the patron of this church, and we join with him in praying: “Lord, take me where You want me to go, Let me meet who You want me to meet, Tell me what You want me to say, And keep me out of Your way.” Grant us serenity, courage, and wisdom to walk in his footprints doing love and good works, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

.
+
.

Prayer in time of tragedy or disaster *
.
Mercy of God deliver us.
Love of Christ heal us.
Spirit of God strengthen us.
.
Lord, have mercy on all those hurt by (name the event) -- the victims, the injured, the traumatized, the grieving, the rescuers, and the healers.
.
Prince of Peace, grant through your holy Cross where you suffer with all humanity, that we may rise up to new life with you, to be instruments of your Peace.
.
Through Christ our Lord, and the intercession of Fr. Mychal Judge, friend of the injured, rescuers, and the grieving. Amen.

* written in response to the Virgina Tech massacre, 2007

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that

I may not so much seek to be consoled

as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Meditation:

"Falling in love with God"

by Pedro Arrupe, SJ

(Because this classic Jesuit meditation describes

how Mychal Judge lived his life, we include it here).

Nothing is more practical
than finding God,

than falling in love
in a quite absolute, final way.

.
What you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.

.
It will decide what will get you
out of bed in the morning,

what you will do with your evenings,

how you will spend your weekends,
what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you
with joy and gratitude.
.

Fall in love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
.

Do It Anyway, by Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today will often be forgotten.

Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.

Now the Green Blade Rises

(trad. French Easter & Christmas hymn, here):

Now the green blade rises from the burried grain,

Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

In the grave they laid him, love by hatred slain,

Thinking that he'd never, never wake again;

Raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain,

Your touch can call us back to life again;

Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:

Love is come again like wheat arising green.

May your strength give us strength,

May your faith give us faith,

May your hope give us hope,

May your love give us love.

Bruce Springsteen: Into the Fire

here (have sound turned up)

Ar Laimh Deas Dia go raibh a Anam go Deo.

(May his soul be at the Right Hand of God Forever!)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now,

and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

2007-03-31T11:24:00.281-05:00

Home
.
A Gay Saint in fact
by John M. Kelley

The evidence that Father Mychal Judge
joyfully self-identified as gay, though

chaste and celibate, is irrefutable.
.
The evidence includes Mychal's own handwritten journal entries, published in Daly's biography of Judge.

Dennis Lynch claimed in 2002 that Mychal Judge couldn't possibly have been homosexual because he was so saintly a man, plus Judge had never told him he was gay. That was Lynch's only "proof". He claimed that gay activists and liberal media had fabricated the story in order to "hijack" Judge's memory to advance a gay agenda.
.
But all the evidence proves that Mychal Judge did, in fact, self-identify as gay.

Many close friends of Judge, including former FDNY Commissioner Tom Von Essen, Fr. Brian Carroll, Fr. John McNeill, and Fr. Bernard Lynch, have repeatedly confirmed that Mychal identified himself to them as a gay man.
.
Fr. Brendan O'Rourke said, "Mychal had come to terms with being gay, and disagreed with official church teaching about gay orientation and gay relationships." (p. 182: Ford, Michael: Father Mychal Judge: An Authentic American Hero. Paulist Press).
.
(Note: we use gay and homosexual interchangeably here to describe orientation only; by all accounts he was faithful to his priestly vows).

Then Judge himself publicly acknowledged his orientation many times. For example, "Look at who we are as gay people at this moment in history, being a gift for the church, being agents of change in both church and society." (p.184: Ford).
.
Michael Daly's biography decisively settles the question. Daly published excerpts of Judge's personal journals in which he wrote in detail of the struggles and joys of accepting himself as a gay man. (Daly, Michael: The Book of Mychal: the Surprising Life & Heroic Death of Fr. Mychal Judge: 2008).
.
For example, Mychal wrote, "I thought of my gay self and how the people I meet never get to know me fully … (yet) I feel no guilt, none whatsoever today -- I feel on the train Home. I am at peace finally. This is what You want me to do, Lord ... You, You alone, brought me here. I have nothing to fear today. Thank You, thank You, Lord !" (pp. 86, 301-302: Daly).

It's significant that in the face of all this evidence, Dennis Lynch never pressed his claim after 2002. Nor have Mychal's Franciscan order or family ever denied that Mychal self-identified as a gay man. Indeed, two Franciscan publications,
St. Anthony's Messenger (here), and
AmericanCatholic.org (here),
have acknowledged the same.
.
It's understandable why Judge didn't come out to those, like Lynch, with deep visceral reactions and prejudices. Mychal picked and chose when and to whom to come out. But in the end it's clear that Fr. Mychal Judge was selectively, if not generally, open about his gay orientation and self-identity.
.
Mychal's love and ministry touched everyone he encountered, not only gay people. He wasn't so much a "homosexual saint" as he was a saint who happened to be homosexual among many, many other things. But to fully appreciate how God worked through Mychal, we must honestly acknowledge this aspect of his life, as he did.

.
+

Why was Mychal selective in 'coming out'?
an Interview with Book of Mychal
author Michael Daly here
.

Since his passing, many have asked tearfully why Judge had not told them he was gay. But the question asked less frequently is: How would they have responded if he had?
.

Judge knew his tribe and feared their prejudices.
“Some people were really upset by just the suggestion of it,” says Daly. “And I think one of the reasons it was really hard for people was that they felt so close to him, they thought they had known him so well. As Fireman Kevin Shea told me, ‘If you tell me Mychal Judge is gay then I have to tell you I have my first gay friend.’ ”

.
+

Mychal Judge embraced

his homosexuality

as a gift of God

by John M. Kelley

"Mychal had come to terms with being gay, and disagreed with official church teaching about gay orientation and gay relationships" (Ford: p.182), although by all accounts, he chose celibacy.
.
Coming out to dozens of friends over the years, Father Mychal Judge told them that he “would not exclude or gloss over” this aspect of his life when he wrote his own autobiography (Ford: p.37).

Some have asked, Why do we need to know that Fr. Mike was gay?
.
First, because Mychal himself brought it up. He felt it important to share this aspect of himself, to put a human face and name upon the despised label of “homosexual”. Recall how Christ, when asked, “Who is my neighbor?,” tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, putting a human face on the Samaritans who were despised by the Jews.

To truly understand Mychal Judge, to fully appreciate how God worked through him, we must recognize this truth about him. Mychal’s gayness was a major reason for his deep empathy with others, especially outcasts. He was holy in part because he was gay, not despite the fact.

Second, we should know that Fr. Mike was gay because Rome wants to purge many good, gifted gay seminarians. Mychal Judge and many like him would be barred from the priesthood under this regime. Christ had no problem with Mychal’s orientation, but Rome does.

Third, awareness of Fr. Mychal’s gay identity saves lives, and we are a pro-life Church. 1500 gay and lesbian teenagers commit suicide each year in the U.S., succumbing to intense rejection and internalized shame.
.
Mychal intervened in at least one family whose teenage son came out to his parents. That story had a happy ending, but thousands of gay kids are still rejected, abused, driven to suicide, and thrown out to the streets by their parents.
.
Public awareness of Mychal's gay identity continues to save lives by providing greater understanding, fulfilling Christ’s command to “go and do likewise” as the Good Samaritan.

Some have asked, Shouldn't sexual orientation be kept private?

Intimacy is a private matter. But identity and prejudice are public matters affecting the mental, social, physical, and spiritual health of millions of families and individuals.
.
Those who are embarrassed by this serious, mature discussion wrongly associate guilt and shame with homosexual orientation and relationships. They ought to examine where their visceral reactions really come from. They ought to question Rome’s faulty assumptions and, indeed, Rome’s own “objective disorders” which more often resemble a severely dysfunctional family than the Body of Christ.

For centuries, Catholics were also taught to fear left-handed people as “servants of the devil,” and the left-handed were burned at the stake along with faggots and heretics. (The word faggot, literally “burning bundle,” derives from these church burnings of gay men).

Now we know that homosexuality is no more "disordered" or “sinful” than left-handedness. Medical and scientific research strongly point to sexual orientation as determined at birth; that it’s nature over nurture for most people. Therefore, homosexual orientation, like left-handedness, is a Divinely created, normal variation within natural law. As such, gay people face the same moral challenges as everyone else.

The truly disordered homosexuals, psychiatrists say, are the ego-dystonic ones -- the self-loathing and dis-integrated, those who don't accept themselves. The most strident homophobes often have unresolved fears and wounds of their own which they project onto others. Christ warned of such projection: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but not the beam in your own eye?!”

Homophobic guilt, shame, and fear are pathological reactions; they are not of Christ. Christ spreads healing, not pathology -- holiness, not neurosis. Whatever is psychologically unhealthy can never be spiritually holy. (The very words “holy” and “holiness” derive from healthy, happy, and wholeness).
.
Mychal Judge rejected pathological shame, and embraced his homosexuality as God's will for him.
.
We are born with our basic sexual orientations. Homosexuality, like left-handedness or red hair, is Divinely created. It is a normal variation in nature, occurring among humans and other species around the world.
.
St. Thomas Aquinas said, “Grace builds upon nature”. God's grace builds upon our mental, emotional, physical, sexual and social human natures, whether we be hetero- or homo- sexual. Therefore, healing and integration of our human natures are first steps to true spiritual growth. Christ, our Wonder Counselor and Great Physician, came so that we “might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Father Mychal Judge found Christ's life in abundance. "Gradually Mychal moved to recognize that being gay was a gift --
as opposed to a burden, wound, or handicap -- a gift of God." (Ford: p.184).
.
Transcending the pathological guilt and shame inflicted upon gay people by prejudice, he embraced his gay quality as a naturally inborn, God-given gift. This also contributed to his recovery from alcoholism. From there, he received and shared grace in extremis.
.
His spirit freed to love, Mychal achieved true holiness (wholeness) in extraordinary intimacy with Christ. Freed to love, he lived as a "fool of God", embracing within himself and others that which the world despised.
.
"God chose the foolish of the world to confound the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to confound the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who presume they are something..."
(1 Cor. 1)

A true Christ figure in life and in death, Mychal still urges us to transcend our shames, heal our wounds, embrace our gifts, and to truly love ourselves and others the way God loves us.
.
[For a fuller scriptural, theological, and psychological discussion visit:
http://www.GodMadeMeGay.com/
then Click “Read the Letter"].

2007-03-31T11:23:00.213-05:00

Home

Mychal Judge's death:
"Jesus, please end this right now!"
.
by John M. Kelley
..
The details of Father Mychal Judge's last hour and death reflect the great heroism and holiness of his entire life.
.
As Mychal rushed into the North Tower with firefighters, Mayor Rudy Giuliani called out, "Father Mike, pray for us!" Mychal responded, "I always do! I always pray for you!" These were his last public words -- his promise to always pray for us. (Giuliani: Mayor of America).
.
Other priests also came to the scene, but Mychal was the only priest to actually enter either WTC building. He continued to offer absolution, prayers, and assistance in the lobby as death rained all around him, until his own death.
.
When commanders gave orders to evacuate the building, he refused to abandon the hundreds of firefighters still trapped inside saying, "My work here is not finished." (Ford & Daly).
.
It was initially reported that Mychal died while anointing a fallen firefighter. But he actually died after anointing FF Daniel Suhr; he anointed Suhr on the plaza outside before he entered the building. Nor was he struck by a falling body. The jumpers were falling outside onto the plaza; Mychal died inside the WTC lobby (Daly).
.
The Jules Naudet film (below) shows Mychal praying anxiously in the lobby about half an hour before his death. He was probably saying the Rosary, as he often did at fires. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
.
At 9:50- 9:55 AM, Mychal climbed up to the mezzanine attempting to reach some injured firefighters. Seeing dozens of jumpers crashing onto the plaza outside, he cried out fervently and repeatedly, "Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!"

(Daly).
.
Mychal Judge died while pleading with his Best Friend to miraculously intervene and put an end to the devastation.
.
Mychal was struck and killed at 9:59 AM when the South Tower collapse sent concrete and debris flying through the North Tower lobby at speeds of over 100mph.
.
The Medical Examiner found, and his death certificate states, that Mychal Judge died of blunt force trauma to the head (Daly). The wound was visible on the back of his head. He was designated as Victim 0001 because his was the first body recovered from the scene.

His body was initially carried to St. Peter's church across the street from the WTC, then was brought to the West 31st Street firehouse, and then home to St. Francis of Assisi church for the wake and funeral. Fr. Mychal is buried at Holy Sepulchre cemetery in Totowa, NJ.
.
God answered Mychal’s pleas, but not quite the way he asked. By a series of smaller miracles and good fortunes, most people did safely escape the towers that day, and tens of thousands of lives were saved.
.
And for those who didn't make it, God sent Father Mike to greet and guide them on the other side, where he continues to pray for all of us.

.
.
Footage from Mychal's last hour:

Praying in the WTC lobby
about 30 minutes before his death.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners

now and at the hour of our death."

Click here.
.

.
"You are the Body of Christ. In you and through you the work of the Incarnation must go forward. You are to be taken, to be blessed, broken, and distributed, that you may be the means of grace and the vehicles of the Eternal Love."

+ Saint Augustine

2007-03-31T11:23:00.205-05:00

Home

Faith, Hope, Love: Quotes
by and about Mychal Judge
(unless otherwise noted: from Michael Ford’s
Fr. Mychal Judge: An Authentic American Hero,

and/or from Michael Daly's The Book of Mychal)

Faith

+ Jesus said, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain to move, and it will move. Nothing shall be impossible for you.” (Matt 17: 20)

Fr. Mychal: "God is not an obligation or a burden. God is the joy of my life!"

While praying, Mychal sometimes "became so lost in God, as if lost in a trance, that he'd be shocked to find several hours had passed" (Daly)

Fr. Mychal: “When I don’t know what’s next, I get down on my knees and pray, Lord, take me, mold me, fashion me, show me what You want. Then I watch and listen and it will come.”

.
"We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity". (AA 2nd Step)

Fr. Anthony McNeill: “Fr. Mike was keenly aware of the presence of God’s love every minute of his life. From this he got his energy, his drive, his motivation.”

Fr. Brian Carroll: “The haunting spirit of God permeated everything he did. He sensed he had a special relationship with God…yet he was one of the most humble men I ever met.”
.

Fr. Mychal: "Don't worry, don't worry. God will take care of you...just call on God or His blessed Mother, Mary, and they'll take care of you."

.
Malachy McCourt: “He didn’t want to be a saint. He never thought of himself as anything but a humble friar. Yet he was the ultimate servant of God and of people.”

Michael Scully: "People are starving for spiritual authenticity, and Mychal Judge is fully authentic, a true Christ figure in life and in death. Mychal didn't just talk the talk -- like Christ, he walked the walk." [WR Bulletin]

Fr. Mychal: “There’s a tremendous need for us to be people of prayer, to be in constant contact with God, to teach our people more and more the values of personal prayer.”

Fr. Mychal would often pray spontaneously, intimately, and conversationally with Jesus in a litany of praise. “Well, Lord, we just wanta thank and praise You. You’re very good to us. You’ve given us a wonderful day and wonderful people. Thank you for Joe, who lost his wife, and Mary, who’s not very well…”

Devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Francis, and the Blessed Mother Mary, Mychal often said the Rosary while rushing off to fires.

Fr. Michael Duffy: “Mychal Judge loved to bless people, and I mean physically. Even if they didn’t ask. A little old lady would come up to him and he’d talk to her, you know, as if she were the only person on the face of the earth. Then, he’d say, ‘Let me give you a blessing.’ He’d put his big thick Irish hands and pressed her head till the poor woman would be crushed, and he’d look up to heaven and ask God to bless her, give her health and give her peace…" [Eulogy: 9/15/01]

Fr. Mychal: "The wonderful thing is saying yes and accepting God's grace. We could say no and walk away. But when we say yes and go forward, great and wonderful things will happen. It takes courage in the midst of fear, but you do it with the grace of God.”

Fr. Mychal: “God gave me the vocation, considering my person, to be a follower of St. Francis, where I truly believe I fit in perfectly. I’ve never wanted to be anything else.”

NY Archbp. Timothy Dolan (4/15/09):

Fr. Mychal (in 1992 interview): "I wonder what my last hour will be. Will it be trying to help someone, trying to save a life?" [Victim 0001: CTVC]

Fr. Mychal: "No matter how big the call, no matter how small, you have no idea of what God is calling you to do, but God needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us". (last homily: Sept. 10, 2001)

Saint Patrick: “Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ within me.”

Hope

+ If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8: 31).

Fr. Mychal (a sober alcoholic and AA member for 23 years): “Every morning I get out of bed, kneel down, and ask God to help me get through the day without a drink.” He would end his days with, “Thank you, Lord. Please help me to stay sober, to stay loving You and serving You.”

“We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him”. (AA 3rd Step)

"We humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings". (AA 7th Step)

Fr. Mychal: "Thou shall not bullshit."

(on the need to be honest with self and others).

Rev. Paul Shackerley: “Mychal Judge made serious confrontations with his ‘shadow self.‘ He knew that many strengths were located in his weaknesses. So his gifts were all the more precious to people because of their wounded source.” here

Fr. William McNichols: “When wounds are accepted or even healed, they become sources of healing for others.... a sign of resurrection after crucifixion. Like St. Francis, Mychal moved around with his wounds.”

Fr. Mychal identified with St. Therese of Lisieux as one who had faced an existential crisis of spiritual darkness, abandonment to God, and the discovery of grace in abundance.

"Religion is for people who fear hell. Spirituality is for those who've already been there." (Native American saying)

.
Fr. Mychal: “Jesus opened the gates of Heaven for us….Is any one of us rushing into that kingdom?! We are called to be free, to know that in our worst moments of human failure, we are deeply loved by a forgiving God.”

Fr. Michael Duffy: “Mychal loved to bring Christ to people. He was a bridge between people and God.”

a homeless man: "Mychal Judge didn't hide in the sanctuary; he brought the sanctuary out to us." [St. Anthony’s Messenger]

Norah: "Fr. Mike loved the young people of St. Joe's parish. His voice was humble, calming, and sincerely caring; he brought peace to the hearts of us who were privileged to know him. It was never "No, don't do that." He would enlighten you to make the right decisions which he would help bring from your heart to the surface. He pulled the best of YOU out for YOU to see." [a post on Facebook]

Fr. Mychal: "The guilt, the guilt, the guilt!"

(on Irish Catholic guilt, based on perfectionism)

Fr. Brian Carroll: "Mychal took away the shame. For some people, sexuality is part of their shame, or homelessness, or addiction ... Mychal helped people embrace all the shame parts of themselves and turn them into something good."

Fr. Mychal anointed a man who was dying of AIDS. When the man asked him, “Do you think God hates me?,” Mychal just picked him up, kissed him, and silently rocked him in his arms. [Saint of 9/11]

Fr. Mychal: "If you descend into somebody else's private hell and stand there with them, it ceases to be hell."

Thomas Merton: "God is most glorified by those in whom His mercy has produced the greatest love." (Thoughts in Solitude)

Fr. Mychal "transformed the city's most foresaken hospital rooms into the most passionate places of worship." (Daly)

Fr. Mychal (on his ministries): "I wanted to keep it simple, but the Lord had other ideas, and I had nothing to say about it."

Mychal McNichols: “Fr. Mike said there was a new church coming, one that’s open. There was hope. You weren’t going to hell. You were forgiven. God would take those fears and put them away. All you have to do is ask.”

Fr. Mychal: "Don't let the church get in the way of your relationship with God." (speaking of the institutional church).

Fr. Mychal wrote in his journal about accepting himself as gay: "I feel no guilt, none whatsoever today -- I feel on the train Home. I am at peace finally. This is what You want me to do, Lord... You, You alone, brought me here. I have nothing to fear. Thank You, thank You, Lord !"

Fr. Mychal: "It's wonderful. Look at who we are as gay people as this moment in history, as being a gift for the church, to be agents of change both in church and society."

"The Irish Republic declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation ... cherishing all the children of the nation equally." (Irish Proclamation of Independence, 1916)

Fr. Mychal (in Ireland: 2000): “With all our prayers, and with a loving, kind God who wants us to be at peace with each other, there has to be a solution coming. There will always be people who want to destroy what God builds up through good people, but God will overcome. I don't know how He's going to do it, but someday God will make the headlines instead of the devil. So don't give up. We pray together, we hold hands together, we believe together, we love together, we're saved together, and God reigns."

Fr. Mychal: "When we lose someone we love and we don't know what to do, we should just pray and worship. Thank you Lord for their lives...for everything they brought into our lives" [Ford]...."Open your heart and let their spirit and life keep you going" [LIFE book].

Vina Drennan: "His prayers were like a hotline to God. When he prayed in the midst of despair, fear, sorrow and great grief, you felt like he was a presence that would get you through things." [NPR interview]

Fr. Mychal: “No matter what mess you’re in, you’re always held and loved by God.”

.
Love

+ “Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God…for God is love.” (1 John 4).

Fr. Mychal turned down an invitation to spend Christmas Day with a friend’s family. Some weeks later when the friend asked how he spent Christmas, Mychal replied, “I visited folks in seven different hospitals.”

Fr.Mychal: “You know what I want for Christmas? Absolutely nothing! I have everything in the world!”

Fr. Mychal would walk into the rooms of AIDS patients, and despite the state of their ravaged bodies -- nurses wouldn't even touch them -- Mychal would pull back the blankets and message their feet.

Fr. Mychal anointed a man who was dying of AIDS. When the man asked him, “Do you think God hates me?,” Mychal just picked him up, kissed him, and rocked him in his arms. [Saint of 9/11]

Fr. Bernard Lynch: “Mychal believed very much in the Sacramental Real Presence, but he himself had that as well. He saw himself as the Body of Christ and he saw others as that.”

Fr. Robert Post (on Mychal’s relationship with Firefighters): “They’re all into this macho thing. They’re tough guys on the outside. But when their inside opened to his inside, it was the same beautiful heart. Franciscans preach a message of love, not fear, of God. That was the message of his whole life.”

Fr. Mychal to firefighters: "This firehouse is a holy place. It will always be holy ground for you." [Michael Daly: NYDN, 8/21/07]

Fr. Mychal: “The firefighters ask me to bless them. But the truth is I feel blessed by them.”

Fr. Mychal climbed up on a fire ladder and talked an armed hostage-taker into peacefully surrendering (1974). Mychal later said he had prayed but not been afraid, "You do what you have to do with God's grace."
.

Steven McDonald: "Mychal had no use for physical things. Give him a cashmere sweater, and it would end up on the back of a homeless person. But go to him with a troubled soul, and he would listen intently for as long as it took." [NYT: 12/31/01]

Fr. Mychal (on making time to care for others): “Time is a gift from God. What you receive as a gift, give as a gift.” [NYT: 5/17/08]

Fr. Mychal once gave the winter coat off his back to a homeless woman in the street. He later said, "She needed it more than me." [Saint of 9/11].
.
Jesus: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matt 19)

"Those whom the world rejects must move you the most." [St.Louis Marie de Montfort]

Mike Daly once gave a dollar to a homeless beggar on the sidewalk. Daly told him, "This is from Father Mike." The homeless man responded, "Father Mike was my spiritual advisor;" he then walked down the street and put the dollar into a poor box!

[Victim 0001 film].

Taking literally Jesus’ command to go and do likewise as the Good Samaritan, Mychal paid the rent for an immigrant who had AIDS and “treated him like the mayor of Dublin”.

Brendan Fay: "Mychal had a heart as big as New York. He had room for everybody. We pray our church will make room for everybody, that our church would be welcoming, especially to those who are excluded.” [April, 2008 Vigil at Ground Zero, for Pope's visit]

.
Fr. Mychal (on Rome’s teaching against gays): “Is there so much love in the world that we can afford to discriminate against any kind of love?!”

Mike Daly (on the church hierarchy's annoyance with Mychal): "Mychal spoke directly with the Almighty -- he prayed directly to Him -- that's where Mychal got his orders." [Victim 0001: CTVC film]

Steven McDonald: "First and foremost, he was a priest in love with Jesus. He would bring Jesus into every place he was called. Where Father Mike was, Jesus was there. He was a living example of Christ´s love and forgiveness. He had limitless love, unconditional love." [National Catholic Register: 9/19/01]

.
Sr. Mary David: "Mychal Judge is proof of the existence of God."

Norah: "Our eyes now see our world very differently as we had the gift of God among us. How blessed we were to experience Fr. Mike." [a post on Facebook]

Fr. Mychal: “If no one told you today that they love you, let me tell you: I love you, and no matter what mess you’re in, you’re always held and loved by God.”

Fr. Mychal: "I love you, so just love each other the best you can" [in a homily]

Jesus: "As I have loved you, so you must love one another" [John 13:34]

Holy Spirit

+ Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me will do the works that I do, and will do even greater works.…” (John 14: 12)

Fr. Mychal: "God is not an obligation or a burden. God is the joy of my life!"

While praying, Mychal sometimes "became so lost in God, as if lost in a trance, that he'd be shocked to find several hours had passed" (Daly)

Fr. John McNeill (once Mychal's spiritual director): "We knew we were dealing with somebody directly in line with God…God uses wounded healers, and it was precisely because of what Mychal had been through that he achieved that extraordinary degree of union with the Divine. He was a true mystic…which he showed with a total, unlimited and unconditional presence.”

Fr. William McNichols: "Father Mychal had the charism, the spiritual gift, of the wounds of St. Francis. As a priest who was gay, he belonged to a group that bears the wounds of the church, and he took the charism of the wounds into the world...."

"In the army of love, only the wounded may serve." (Thornton Wilder)

Fr. John McNeill: "Mychal never knew he was a saint. God never let Mychal Judge think he was so special. God left him with all his struggles, his problems, his depressions, and his doubts and fears. So Mychal never knew he was a saint; he thought he was one of the worst sinners." [Saint of 9/11]

Fr. Mychal identified with St. Therese of Lisieux as one who had faced an existential crisis of spiritual darkness, abandonment to God, and the discovery of grace in abundance.

"We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God ... praying only to know His will for us and for the power to carry it out". (AA 11th Step)

Fr. Mychal when asked what he wanted for Christmas: “I don’t need a thing in the world. I'm the happiest man on the face of the earth!" And then he would go on for ten minutes, telling me all the ways he felt so blessed… He would always conclude by looking up to heaven and saying, "Why am I so blessed? I don’t deserve it. Why am I so blessed?" [from Fr. Michael Duffy’s eulogy, “The Happiest man on earth”].

Vina Drennan: “There was always the presence of God in him, a peacefulness in the midst of fear, pain and suffering. He had the gift of presence.”
.
Mychal McNichols: “He really was Christ’s representative on earth. There was something different about him…”

Fr. Charlie Flaherty: “Mychal Judge was an imitator of Christ, not just an admirer. Jesus wants imitators, not fans.” [homily: St. John’s parish]

Fr. Mychal went on three peace pilgrimages to Ireland (1998-2000). He arrived in Omagh just after the 1998 bombing which killed 29 and injured 200.

As he walked among the survivors, many reached out to touch his robe. [Steven McDonald: May, 2008]

.
Fr. Patrick Fitzgerald: “God’s love did not pass through Mychal in a passive way like water through a straw. But God’s love took on the character of Mychal Judge -- not a perfect personality, but a perfect instrument for God.”

Mike Daly: "Mychal spoke directly with the Almighty -- he prayed directly to Him -- that's where Mychal got his orders." [Victim 0001: CTVC film]
.
God granted at least three miraculous healings through Mychal’s intercession (all documented). In 1995, doctors told a firefighter’s wife that her unborn baby had hydrocephaly -- water on the brain, often associated with mental retardation. Mychal prayed intensively for weeks with both parents, laying his hands on mom’s belly. She later gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl. [Ford]. The other two healings were granted after 9/11 when parents prayed to Mychal for their critically ill children. One may be the first case ever of remission from autism (Click here ).
.

Fr. Mychal: “I, Mychal Judge, am not capable of doing these things on my own...I walk in, hold a hand, wipe a tear, say a prayer. But that’s not me, that’s the grace of God. I don’t worry about the details…it’s a mystery, it’s God.”

Fr. Mychal (on his ministries): "I wanted to keep it simple, but the Lord had other ideas, and I had nothing to say about it."

Sr. Mary David: "Mychal Judge is proof of the existence of God."

.
Michael Ford: “For Mychal, the Cross represented the place of God’s most intimate engagement with the world. The parallels drawn between Mychal Judge and the figure of Christ are not just romantic metaphors. He was indeed the victim who saved.”

Fr. Stephen Weaver: "There was something Christlike about the way in which his death transcended the disaster ... Heroic virtue was demonstrated by Mychal on 9/11 in a way that redeems the evil of the event itself."

St. Augustine: "You are the Body of Christ. In you and through you the work of the Incarnation must go forward. You are to be taken; you are to be blessed, broken, and distributed; that you may be the means of grace and the vehicles of the Eternal Love."

Fr. Mychal: "I love you, so just love each other the best you can."
.
On September 11, 2001, as Fr. Mychal rushed into the burning tower, Mayor Rudy Giuliani called out, “Father Mike, pray for us!” Mychal called back, “I always do! I always pray for you!”
.
+ Father Mychal Judge, pray for us, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

+ Glory be to the Father, and

to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.