I suspect that Josephine Harris, and the members of Ladder Company 6, are better able to understand the meaning of Christmas this year, after what they experienced on September 11.

The seven men of Ladder Company 6 were in one of the towers of the World Trade Center—about 27 floors up—when, as fireman John Jonas put it, "We heard that rumble that nobody’s ever heard before," and the neighboring tower collapsed. Since they saw no one else coming down the stairs toward them, they decided that it was time to get out. So they began to help those where were already on the way down, one of whom was an elderly Aftrican-American woman named Josephine Harris. She had traveled all the way from the 73^rd floor, and was extremely tired, such that every step she took required a tremendous effort. One of the firemen, Bill Butler, spoke for the whole group when he said, "Josephine, were going to get you out of here today."

Despite the very slow pace, the men of Ladder Company 6 were determined to stick together and to bring this woman to safety.

Finally, as they arrived at the fourth floor, Josephine collapsed and said, "That’s it, I can’t go anymore." The firemen were understandably worried and anxious, realizing that what happened to the other tower might soon happen to the one they were in, but they all remained there while Josephine caught her breath.

And then their fears became a reality—they heard the horrible rumble once again, and the second tower collapsed all around them. With good reason, they thought they were about to die. Sal D’Agostino said a prayer; Tommy Falco thought to himself, "This is it." Richie Picciotto’s wife and children flashed in front of him, and he prayed, "Please God, make it quick."

But—amazingly—against all odds—they survived, trapped in the stairwell: one of the few places in the building that hadn’t been crushed in the collapse.

They waited anxiously for four very long hours, until they were finally rescued.

In late September, Josephine and her rescuers were reunited on a "Dateline NBC" program. It was an emotional reunion. Josephine expressed her gratitude by saying, "Thank you so much. You’re my guardian angels and my heroes. You are the greatest bunch of guys I’ve ever met. Thank you so much." The firemen were also grateful to Josephine for—of all things—slowing them down on their descent! Because they were forced to stop when they did and where they did, they survived. As John Jonas put it, "If we were a little quicker, we were done." Mike Meldrum added, "She’s like our guardian angel."

I said earlier that I suspect that Josephine Harris and her rescuers are better able to understand the meaning of Christmas this year, after what they experienced on September 11. That’s because they now know what it means to be saved by a "savior!" For Josephine, it was the 7 firemen acting as one, and for the 7 firemen it was Josephine!

And the angel said to Joseph, "Do not be afraid to take Mary into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

It’s obviously wonderful to be saved from a burning, collapsed building—just ask Josephine Harris—but it’s far better and more important to be saved from your sins! To be saved from a demolished building will give you a few more decades of natural life (at best), but being saved from your sins brings eternal life!

Do you understand your personal need for this "salvation?" Many people, sad to say, don’t. Let’s face it, we live in a world where sin has become mainstream: anger, lust, greed, gluttony, envy, sloth and pride—these are accepted realities in many segments of our modern culture. Consequently all too many sinners mistakenly think they’re "good people" who don’t need salvation. They are, in one sense, like all the men and women who were in the World Trade Center at 8AM on September 11, who also didn’t realize that they needed to be "saved"—until disaster struck a few minutes later.

The Lord invites us this Christmas to avoid eternal disaster by reaching out the true Savior—born on this day some 2,000 years ago—and by following him, as Josephine followed her "saviors" from Ladder Company 6. She put her faith in their ability to bring her to safety; she trusted them, and she obeyed them—which is why she was saved.

Jesus brings us eternal salvation in much the same way: he gives us new life in Baptism, and then asks us to put our faith in him, to trust him, and to obey him. But even if we disobey him the good news is that we can still get reconnected—regardless of what we’ve done—if we simply go to the sacrament of Confession with the right disposition of heart.

Several women discovered this marvelous truth about a month ago, on the Rachel’s Vineyard retreat that was held down in Watch Hill. All of them had had abortions at some point in the past.

Dr. Sheila Kuzmic, who was part of the team giving the weekend, wrote this about the experience:

As they entered further into the weekend, the Holy Spirit began to give them a "new vision" to see themselves, the blockades and the areas of their lives that needed healing and change. By Saturday evening ALL of the women experienced the healing power of the sacrament of Reconciliation. For some, it had been over 20 years. Praise God!

In the grand scheme of things, my brothers and sisters, this was a "salvific event" which was even greater than the incredible salvific event that Josephine and her rescuers were a part of on September 11, simply because these women received the salvation of Christ once again into their lives.

It was for moments like this that he came to this earth on Christmas Day. As Paul says in 1 Timothy 1: 15, "You can depend on this . . . that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."