Prayer Service Commemorates 9/11 Anniversary
September 14, 2004
COLUMBUS, OH - Ohio Dominican University students, faculty and staff
gathered to commemorate the third anniversary of 9/11 with a prayer service
on September 13 in Christ the King Chapel in Sansbury Hall.
At the service, ODU President Jack Calareso reminded those in attendance
of the lives that were lost on that day in 2001, and those in attacks since
9/11. "Three years ago, we gathered as a community on the Oval to pray for
the victims of the September 11 attacks.
Three years later, we gather to remember those innocent victims. Today,
we add to their number and to our memory, the victims from the Chechnya bombings
and attacks in Bali and Kenya in 2002; The Riyadh Compound Bombing; the attacks
in Morocco and the Gaza Strip in 2003; the attacks in Pakistan and trains in
Madrid; and the school bombing in North Ossetia in Russia of only a week ago.
We must add to their number and to our memory, the more than 1,000 American
soldiers and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians of Iraq, Afghanistan,
the Sudan, and other war zones of the world."
As he spoke to students, faculty and staff, President Calareso asked them
to use the occasion as an opportunity to pray for peace and reflect on how they
could best become agents for peace in the world. "Today we remember.
Today we pray for peace. But when we leave this chapel, we must realize that
our responsibility as peacemakers has only just begun. Peace can become a reality.
But for it to happen, we need to take the advice of Henry Louis Mencken who first
said, 'If you want peace, work for justice.' The key word is 'work.' Peace will
not come easy and will not be achieved by prayer alone. It will take our prayers
and our actions, our willingness to work hard, every day and in many ways."
President Calareso then reiterated his challenge to the community to act for
the common good. "It is the accumulation of our actions that will bring light to
a dark world; hope to the many seemingless situations; and, most importantly, peace
to the world.
