Twenty-five years ago today, men ran into buildings other people were running out of. None of it was aimless. Paul tells the Corinthians today what that kind of courage actually looks like from the inside: an athlete in strict training, not shadowboxing, not running aimlessly, but driving toward something real, "so as not to be disqualified." The Gospel turns the same discipline inward - "why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, and do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?" Discipline aimed outward, at the good of others. Discipline aimed inward, at your own honesty. Both were on display twenty-five years ago today, and both are worth remembering together.

The deeper reflection on today's readings - and a daily prayer for your household - is waiting in the & Altar app and at andaltar.com. More after the news.

📰 Quick Hits

1. Twenty-Five Years Later: 2,977 Dead, and a Church in the Bronx Remembers Three of Its Own

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks twenty-five years ago today - 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel among them. More than 9,000 first responders and survivors tracked by the federal World Trade Center Health Program have died since from related illness, and over 57,000 have been certified with attack-related cancers. Across the country, bishops are offering Masses and reflections: Archbishop Broglio at the Basilica of the National Shrine in Washington, Archbishop Hicks at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Bishop Caggiano in Connecticut, which lost 161 of its own.

One story from St. Philip Neri Church in the Bronx captures something the numbers can't. In 1967, three young firefighters - Mickey Conboy, Michael Healey, and Donald Regan - risked their lives running into a burning parish church to save the Blessed Sacrament. More than three decades later, Healey and Regan died at the World Trade Center, this time "saving other members of the Body of Christ." Conboy survived both fires. Today, the parish dedicates a plaque honoring all three, with Conboy there to see it.

Faith Lens for the Home: Two men who once ran into fire to save the Eucharist later ran into fire to save their neighbors - the same instinct, aimed at the same Body of Christ in two different forms. Ask your family: "What does it mean that the courage to protect something sacred and the courage to protect a person are really the same courage?" Pray tonight for the 2,977, for the tens of thousands who've died since from what that day left behind, and for Mickey Conboy, who carries the memory of both fires.

2. Forty-One Seminarians, One Endowment, and a Diocese Betting on the Future

The Diocese of Arlington is currently forming 41 seminarians, and this year, for the first time, the full $60,000 annual cost of educating each one is covered by an endowment built specifically for that purpose. Its inaugural black-tie Vianney Dinner in July sold out by word of mouth before invitations were even sent, raising $560,000. Bishop Michael Burbidge told the 220 guests he is "extremely proud" of the men, calling them well-formed to "treat all with respect and dignity," and said the diocese has "tremendous hope" because of them.

Faith Lens for the Home: On a day devoted to remembering people who ran toward danger for others, forty-one young men are training - Paul's word, disciplined training - for a different kind of daily self-giving. Ask your family: "What does it look like to prepare, quietly and for years, before the moment that actually asks something of you?" That's true of firefighters. It's true of priests. It's true of parents.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. John Gabriel Perboyre - September 11

A French Vincentian priest born in 1802, Perboyre felt called to the missions in China from the time he was a young seminarian - though he first had to watch his own younger brother, who'd been meant to go in his place, die of illness before the journey. He went anyway, arriving in China in 1835, learning the language and customs, and ministering in secret during a period of intense persecution of Christians. He was betrayed, arrested, tortured for months to force a recantation, and refused. He was executed by strangulation in 1840, bound to a cross in imitation of Christ. He was canonized in 1996 and is honored as the first of China's modern martyr-saints. He trusted the call even after watching what it might cost, and went anyway.

Ask at dinner: "Perboyre saw what his vocation might cost him before he ever left home, and went anyway. Is there something we know will be hard that we're still called to do?"

✋ One Simple Action

Take a moment of silence today at the actual times: 8:46 a.m., 9:03, 9:37, and 10:03, if you can. Say the names of anyone you personally lost, or simply pray for the 2,977. Then, before pointing out what someone else in your household needs to work on tonight, name one thing about yourself you'd like to see more clearly first.

📚 Read More

• 25 years since 9/11 - bishops' reflections, St. Philip Neri firefighters: OSV News (https://www.osvnews.com/etched-in-our-minds-bishops-offer-masses-reflections-on-landmark-anniversary-of-9-11-attacks/) and Catholic Courier (https://catholiccourier.com/articles/bishops-offer-reflections-on-25th-anniversary-of-9-11-attacks/) and Catholic Review, Archbishop Lori's reflection (https://catholicreview.org/remembering-9-11/)
• Catholic clergy and religious who ministered after 9/11: Maryknoll Magazine (https://www.maryknollmagazine.org/2026/09/catholics-recall-ministering-in-aftermath-of-9-11/) and NCRegister (https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/9-11-25-years-later-catholic-voices)
• Diocese of Arlington's 41 seminarians and Vianney Dinner: Arlington Catholic Herald (https://www.catholicherald.com/article/local/vianney-dinner-raises-560000-for-formation-of-future-priests/) and Diocese of Arlington (https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/development/events/vianney-dinner/)
• St. John Gabriel Perboyre: Franciscan Media (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-gabriel-perboyre/)

Twenty-five years ago, men ran into buildings other people were running out of. None of it was shadowboxing. Two firefighters who once saved the Blessed Sacrament from a burning church later gave their lives saving the Body of Christ in another form. Forty-one seminarians are training quietly for their own moment of total self-gift. A missionary priest knew the cost before he ever left home, and went anyway. Notice the beam in your own eye before the splinter in someone else's. Never forget.