BY FRANK MEADE | He didn’t drive like a bat out of hell down Seventh Avenue because he was an FDNY chaplain who liked to play with the siren — he left his rectory because he was a priest of God and knew instinctively that he had to do the right thing: face the impossible and be with his flock. And this Franciscan priest’s flock extended far beyond his Fire Department brothers, to include every Jew, police officer, Catholic, firefighter, atheist, Mexican, Protestant, stock broker, Muslim, and Port Authority police officer; every mother, father, sister, brother, next door neighbor, LGBT person, flight attendant, Canadian, Italian, Australian, and Englishman; every New Yorker, Irishman, actor, delivery boy, or office worker was part of his congregation, even though they had never been within a mile of each other until the 11th of September 2001, when they would share death and enter into eternity together.
While there may yet be the few among us who don’t — or won’t, or can’t — understand the extraordinary depth of faith that informed his mission on that Tuesday morning, they are incapable of diminishing Father Mychal’s goodness, purity of heart, and valor. Others will stand tall, be inspired by him, and assure that this wise, humble, joyous man’s memory and honorable legacy will be preserved in perpetuity. Among those are Det. Steven McDonald, NYPD; Patti Ann McDonald and Conor McDonald; Capt. John Bates, New York Harbor Pilot; Jack Cook, FDNY; Andy Csereny, NYPD; NYPD Auxiliary Inspector Tom Miller; Lt. Michael Moran, NYPD Auxiliary Unit; Officer Ramon Sandoval, 10th Precinct Auxiliary Coordinator, NYPD, and his Auxiliary Officers; Lt. Bill Schillinger, FDNY (Ret.); and others too numerous to mention but who can be counted on to do the right thing. Their quiet, unannounced efforts maintain the simplicity befitting Father Mychal’s Franciscan heritage, but deserve recognition.
Father Mychal’s legacy is one of great pride that this gentle man would have eschewed in life. It’s an everlasting debt. It’s for all those whose lives were taken barbarically that Tuesday morning and by silent, pernicious disease since. To honor his sacrifice by building on his good deeds is our daily tasking.
