Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
September 11, 2026
To Mend the World
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22b-27; Luke 6:39-42
Today is the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the attempted attack on the White House. We remember “where we were,” and many of us remember the loved ones and friends who went to work, boarded a flight, and never came home. There were 2,977 victims plus 19 hijackers who died in the September 11, 2001, attacks. We remember the “near misses” of people who could have been on those flights but were fortunate not to board.
Over twenty-five years of memories, with the safety of reflection, we can see how our lives have changed and still feel the impact. The world feels less safe. We walk through security at the airports differently. Enemies of our country continue to plot within and outside our borders. Despite the ways we first came together as a country, our world has gradually begun to tear apart at the seams. We’re more afraid and blind to our own faults, willing to judge others quickly. We have not yet learned lessons from wars; veterans return home with long-term trauma and PTSD, and we are still searching to mend the world in Jesus’ name.
So what’s a disciple to do? Jesus anticipated this kind of issue for his followers. He reminded them that if they were waiting for enemies to apologize for wrongdoing, they would be waiting a long time. If they were hoping for conspiracy theories and violence to subside, they would be disappointed. He warned them that teachers themselves would need to be vigilant about their own blindness to their faults. Even on the resurrection side of history, they could still be blinded by ambition, power, conspiracy theories, and greed. He said the only way to avoid the blindness of judgment is through character formation from the One teacher who can truly see the past, present, and future. “When fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”
What does it mean to be fully trained? On this day, we’re reminded that one definition of this word is to “mend the nets.” This is something the disciples were doing in Mark 1:17 when Jesus first called them. As fishermen, they repaired the nets so they would be ready to be cast back into the lake.
As “fishers of men,” their task was to look for the broken places of their world. To be a fully trained disciple, they would need to go about the work of mending broken places, reconciling enemies, admitting faults, and setting the world aright. To do as the apostle Paul says to “win over as many as possible, to become all things to all, to save at least some.”
Twenty-five years later, we will have work to do. But we do so, guided by Jesus, our Teacher, who sees the world as it is and as it will be. When one day, he “will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Until that day comes, let’s be the people who mend broken hearts. Carrying beams is just too great a burden to bear.
Photo by Jesse Mills on Unsplash