NEW YORK, Oct. 29 — Frank is one of 5,000 construction workers at Ground Zero, the charred remains of the World Trade Centre in New York City. A former navy man, he now labours seven days a week, 12 hours a day...
"The place looks like a war zone. I can't begin to tell you the number of bodies we found under one bridge. It's very, very gruesome. And it doesn't get any better after a month. Not a night goes by that I don't close my eyes and see what I deal with every day."
Most of the bodies have been vaporized. Yet even a body part like a finger can be traced with DNA testing, giving the victim's family something to bury. Frank wants to help "bring these people home" and give peace to their families.
20 Foot Cross Found on the 3rd Day Standing in the Rubble
Although Frank spends long hours searching for human remains, he has also found a remarkable 20' cross of steel beams which fell intact from the north tower when it imploded. The cross landed almost upright amid the ruins.
"I was fortunate to find a symbol of faith that also helps people bring their feelings home," said Frank in a phone interview with The Canadian Bible Society. "The cross bears witness that faith is still here. God has not deserted us. Terror has no place in our lives. Faith does."
Frank has led hundreds of Port Authority officials, army, navy, coast guard and secret service personnel as well as other construction workers to see the cross when it was first found, along with three others, standing almost upright in the rubble, in what he dubbed "God's house".
While the other three crosses are being demolished, the largest one has been marked by the city as an artefact that will be part of a permanent memorial. Ironworkers gave it a permanent base and then placed it on the high walkway over West Street.
Fire fighters and police officers have engraved the names of fallen colleagues on it as "a way of healing". On the right arm of the cross is attached a piece of insulation that resembles the shroud of Christ. Frank believes this cross at Ground Zero will be "revered forever".
Although ten miles away on Sept. 11, Frank saw with his own eyes the New York holocaust. "I witnessed part of my skyline, part of my city, part of my nation being destroyed. I feel for my American people and I feel for myself." He immediately offered to help dig out whomever he could.
Born in Brooklyn of a Jewish mother and a Roman Catholic father, Frank describes himself as a born-again Christian.
"God gave his Son, his only Son, to the people of the world. His Son gave his life for our sins. God hasn't deserted us in this terrible time. This cross bears witness to people, so society can realize that Faith is still here."
Frank was struck, too, that just as Christ was resurrected on the third day, so the cross was found going into the third morning.
The head chaplain for the FBI was the first person to help Frank get the city interested in preserving the cross, then Father Brian Jordan of nearby St Francis of Assisi Church, also stepped in.
Cross Becomes a Witness of Faith to World Leaders
On Oct. 4th, the Feast of St. Francis, fire fighters, police and construction workers, some with their hard hats removed out of respect, all with their heads bowed, listened quietly while Father Jordan dedicated the massive iron cross. The Franciscan priest prayed for "redemption and healing for workers, victims and their families and for all America which was violated" by the terrorist attacks.
Father Jordan told The Canadian Bible Society in a phone interview that for him, the cross symbolizes "the pain and suffering of Jesus on the cross and the redemption of all humanity." Almost every day Father Jordan tirelessly ministers at Ground Zero. What would he want prayer for? "For the healing of the nation."
Frank gazes at the cross every morning and evening. Dignitaries visiting Ground Zero have also been struck by it. Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minster of Israel, remarked, "This, in your eyes, is an act of God." Frank said American civil rights leader, Rev. Jesse Jackson, was mesmerized by it. "Everybody who sees it is."
Frank thinks it will be revered forever by the American public and even by the world. "We'll learn that terrorism has no place in our lives and that Faith does."
By Sue Careless
Bible Network News
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