Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Saint Mychal Judge: The Eucharist in the Rubble of 9/11

Saint Mychal Judge: The Eucharist in the Rubble of 9/11

Last updated on: September 11, 2025 at 11:05 am by Jeff Hood

0 Comments

Saint Mychal Judge: The Eucharist in the Rubble of 9/11 2025-09-11T11:05:44-06:00 Jeff Hood

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mychal Judge

Mychal Judge / Wikimedia

God’s Canonization of Mychal Judge

The Church doesn’t need to canonize Mychal Judge. God already did.

Running Toward Chaos: Mychal Judge in Action

On September 11, 2001, when planes tore into towers and the streets of New York filled with screams, Mychal Judge ran toward the chaos. He didn’t carry a weapon. He didn’t carry armor. He just wore a collar and carried a burning heart. While others fled, he entered the lobby of the North Tower with the firefighters he served as chaplain. He prayed over broken bodies. He blessed the maimed. He whispered forgiveness into ears that were already fading into silence. He was a priest to the very last breath of so many. God, he was a priest.

A Queer Priest at the Margins: Mychal Judge’s Ministry

But let’s not wash his story clean. Mychal Judge was not a saint made for stained glass. He was a queer man…a gay priest…who bore the weight of his identity in a Church that wanted him hidden. He knew what it meant to live at the margins…and that knowledge gave him a deep tenderness for all who were pushed aside. Like Jesus, Mychal Judge was a dear friend to the homeless, the addicted, the poor, the sick and so many others that society had cast out. When AIDS swept through New York and the Church turned its face, Mychal Judge walked straight into hospital rooms. He held the hands of men dying in isolation. He kissed foreheads others feared to touch. He blessed bodies the world called unclean. Mychal Judge was a queer priest who loved without calculation…who turned shame into embrace…who carried Christ into places the hierarchy dared not go.

The Death of a Saint: Mychal Judge in the Rubble

In the lobby of the North Tower, violence struck Mychal Judge down. A slab of steel and glass came roaring down from above. It split his skull. His body hit the floor. Blood pooled beneath him. Dust filled his lungs. His clothes smeared with ash. His collar soaked in blood. His life ended in horrific fragments.
And yet…Mychal Judge’s body spoke as loudly as any body ever has. Firefighters and police officers gathered him up…carrying him out as if they were carrying Christ himself. Look at the photos…soot-soaked men cradling his limp body like an offering. They carried him out of the hell of empire as if to say, Here is our priest. Here is our brother. Here is our saint. They laid him on the altar of St. Peter’s Church…a queer Pietà…Mychal Judge’s body broken and given for the world.

The Queer Eucharist: Mychal Judge’s Sacrifice

What happened that day was nothing less than the Eucharist…This is my body, broken for you. This is my blood, poured out for the world. Mychal Judge’s broken flesh became bread. His spilled blood became wine. His death became a feast of memory, a sacrament of defiance.
The Vatican wants miracles? Here is miracle enough… A gay man in a collar who loved more fiercely than the fear that surrounded him. A priest who walked into AIDS wards and never turned away. A friar who carried Christ into queer bars and firehouses with equal joy. Mychal Judge died not with a sermon…but with a body that became the very incarnation of Jesus Christ. If you can’t see the miracle…it’s not because it isn’t there. It’s because you’re too afraid to admit that holiness can come clothed in queer flesh.
Mychal Judge’s body is the chalice. His wounds are the bread. His love is the real presence of Christ.

Resurrection: Mychal Judge Lives in Memory

But resurrection will not be silenced. Mychal Judge rises every time his story is told. He rises in the courage of firefighters who still whisper his name before running into danger. He rises in queer kids who see in him proof that God not only tolerates them…but delights in them. He rises in the homeless and the sick who remember a priest who never turned away. He rises in every act of defiant love that refuses to bow to fear.

Queer Love Indestructible: Mychal Judge’s Legacy

This is the truth the Church doesn’t want to face…queer love is indestructible. You can crush the body, but you cannot kill the love. You can split the skull, but you cannot silence the witness. You can bury the gay priest, but you cannot keep Mychal Judge’s holiness in the ground. Mychal Judge lives because queer love cannot die.
Every Eucharist is resurrection. So is his memory. His queer body, broken in the rubble, declares that no violence, no empire, no tower of hate or fear can overcome love. His very death spits in the face of violence and says…Do your worst. Love will rise again.
And love has risen. In every queer kid who dares to love themselves. In every priest who dares to bless the rejected. In every community that refuses to give up on compassion. Mychal Judge is not gone. He is here. He is watching. He is blessing. He is laughing. He is rising. He is raising us up.

Already a Saint: Mychal Judge in Spirit

The hierarchy may hesitate. But the faithful already know…and when the hierarchy refuses to act…the people will. Mychal Judge is already a saint. The Spirit has already declared it in fire and ash…This is the Body of Christ. This is Mychal Judge. This is a saint whose love will live forever.

Liturgical Prayer: Saint Mychal Judge, Watch Over Us

So let us proclaim:

Saint Mychal Judge, watch over us. Teach us to carry love into the fires of our own time. Teach us to believe that even broken bodies can feed the world. Teach us to stand against every violence with the only power that endures…the power of love.
Watch over the firefighters who run into flames. Watch over the sick abandoned in their beds. Watch over the queer who wonder if they are beloved. Watch over us in our violence, our fear and our ruin. Teach us to love as you loved. Teach us to die as you died…with arms open wide. Teach us to rise as you have risen…with love that cannot be destroyed.
For your body…broken in the rubble…still speaks. It rebukes violence. It feeds us with courage. It watches over us as bread watches over the hungry…as blood watches over the living…as Christ watches over the Church.
And so…with dust in our lungs and hope in our bones…
Saint Mychal Judge, pray for us.

Catholic

Politics and Religion

Queer Priest 9/11 Hero

About The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a theologian, writer and activist who has spent years ministering to people on death row. As a spiritual advisor and witness to executions, he speaks out against state violence and calls for a society rooted in justice, mercy and the sacredness of life. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

September 10, 2025

Political Violence : The Anti-Gospel

Next Post

September 13, 2025 Lactantius Against the Death Penalty: Early Christian Ethics

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"'God’s Sheep on the Sidewalk' is immensely thought-provoking and conscience-stirring. Thanks. "The people out there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

God’s Sheep: The Ones Who Sleep ..."

"Greetings, Jeff, and bless you for your relentlessly regular fierce posts and your profound commitments ..."

DCF

Between: On the Person and Character ..."

"God as the Between, thoughts:As a child we were taught, in the blue or green ..."

madalyn baumstark

Between: On the Person and Character ..."

"Sometimes we make it harder than it is. Not saying things don't bring us to ..."

Patrick Dennis

Get Behind Me, Satan: A Death ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Danny & Jeff fresh writings latest poetics north texas fellowship of reconciliation Sermon theology from death row Thoughts Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what is the correct sequence of events in the End Times?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Dragon cast to earth, beast rises from sea, false prophet rises from earth, mark of the beast given Beast rises from sea, dragon cast to earth, mark of the beast given, false prophet rises Mark of the beast given, dragon cast to earth, beast rises, false prophet rises False prophet rises, dragon cast to earth, beast rises from sea, mark of the beast given