First responders honored, remembered at annual Blue Mass

By John Gleason

Just two days after the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Shanksville, Pa., and on the Pentagon just outside Washington, more than 400 people gathered at Christ the King Church in Denver to participate in the archdiocese’s second annual Blue Mass.
Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel from across the archdiocese attended with their families to remember those who have given their lives in service of others.
The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., who is a former police chaplain. Concelebrants were Father Daniel Leonard, pastor of Christ the King Church, as well as Father Sean McGrath and Dominican Father Robert Staes, both chaplains with the Denver Police Department.

The archbishop welcomed the faithful and reaffirmed that the Blue Mass would be held annually on the Sunday closest to the anniversary of 9/11.

“We call it this because so many of the first responders who serve our community are dressed in blue—officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel,” the archbishop said. “And we want to recognize how important these people are.”

The afternoon liturgy was an anticipated Mass for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Archbishop Chaput began his homily by talking about how the cross, the instrument used in the death of Jesus, became a symbol of victory and salvation for Christians. Repeating the day’s Scripture readings, the archbishop noted that when the Jews complained they were in the dry desert with nothing but wretched food to eat, God sent serpents to bite them, causing many of them to die. When Moses, in response to the people’s request, asked God for help, he was instructed to create a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. Those bitten were to look upon it.
“In this way the serpent became a symbol of healing,” the archbishop said. “For us the cross, which of course in Jesus’ time was an incredible torture became (because of Christ’s sacrificial act) the source of our healing and our salvation.”

The archbishop quoted from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians to explain how Jesus gave up his divinity to become one of us.

“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard quality with God something to be grasped,” he said. “Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness and found human in appearance he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”

To be a Christian means to empty oneself, the archbishop explained, to give oneself away. The archbishop then asked what makes a good police officer, firefighter or emergency medical provider.

“We hope they’ll forget themselves so that they can help us,” he said. “There’s an almost romantic air about being a police officer or firefighter and there should be; they are heroes and heroines in the service of our community.”

He then addressed the families saying that the homes of first responders can sometimes be places of anxiety.

“We also want to thank (your families) today,” he said. “Because it’s your spouses, children and parents who worry about you.”

One of the many participants at the Mass was Detective Danny Veith, a 14-year veteran of the Denver Police Department and a parishioner of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. He told the Denver Catholic Register that participation in the Blue Mass was a wonderful show of support.

“Part of my job is to promote wellness in the mind, body and spirit,” Veith said. “Spirit is a big part of being well. These readings of today correspond so well with what we do and the archbishop’s homily just melded that together.”

Dan Allison has served with the Colorado State Patrol for 23 years and currently is assigned to the State Capital building. A member of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lakewood, he said that while there are many things he enjoys about his job he entered the State Patrol to help people.
“I wanted to come here and be with my brothers and sisters in law enforcement,” he said, “and to listen to what the archbishop had to say.”

Born and raised in Denver, Michael Zordani grew up attending St. Vincent de Paul Church. An officer with the Frisco Police Department he said that both he and his mother wanted to attend the Blue Mass.

“She thought that coming here would be a great way to say thank you to all the first responders,” Zordani said. “For me, I never get tired of hearing the archbishop speak and what he said about service to others just hits me down deep. I think it’s really nice when people simply thank us for what we do.”