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By JAN LOOMIS, Special to the Daily Transcript
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
"In the aftermath of 9/11, as San Diegans were wrenched from their everyday routines by the images of New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, the churches of San Diego were faced with bewildered congregations in much need of comfort and answers," according to Monsignor Dennis Clark, pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe.
Clark found that immediately after the event, there was a brief surge in church attendance, followed by a return to normal. However, Clark reported, "The tragedy remained very much on people's minds, troubling them deeply with questions like 'How could people do such things to fellow human beings?' and 'How could a good God allow such things to happen to innocent people?'" His parishioners were also faced with constant reminders of the tragedy throughout the year.
"The sadness and confusion of heart was so strong and persistent that I prepared a six-week series of Sunday homilies addressing the issues point by point," Clark said. He also noticed that many people curtailed or muted their usual holiday season social activities. In lieu of the usual Christmas cards, said Clark, "our parish sent out a little book of meditations." His parishioners contributed generously to the survivors' fund and the children at The Nativity School did a fund raiser for the victims' families.
According to Clark: "In the mid-14th century, when the Black Death took about a third of the population of Europe, a pall of spiritual morbidity descended upon Europe and lasted for many decades. Nothing like that seems to have occurred here." However, he feels that in some people at least, "a deepened sense of the fragility of life and a grateful recognition of each day as an unearned gift has persisted."
Loomis is a free-lance writer based in Poway.
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