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Father Mychal Judge: An Authentic American Hero
A portrait of the Franciscan priest and FDNY chaplain who lost his life in the World Trade Center attacks recounts his personal story and his experiences in the firehouse, his friary, and his church.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2002
6 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Michael Ford
9 books6 followersMichael Ford is a journalist and broadcaster. Before joining the BBC as a religious affairs producer, he studied theology at the University of Bristol in England. He currently resides in England, where he is pursuing a doctoral degree in Henri Nouwen's spirituality.
Librarian's Note: There are authors with similar names on Goodreads.
Michael Ford - Fiction (The Poisoned House, Spartan Warriors Series)
Michael Ford - Religion and Spirituality
Michael Thomas Ford - Gay & Lesbian, Humor, Young Adult
Michael Curtis Ford - Historical Fiction
Librarian's Note: There are authors with similar names on Goodreads.
Michael Ford - Fiction (The Poisoned House, Spartan Warriors Series)
Michael Ford - Religion and Spirituality
Michael Thomas Ford - Gay & Lesbian, Humor, Young Adult
Michael Curtis Ford - Historical Fiction
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 23, 2014
This is the story of another flawed hero which is perhaps why he is an authentic one. I had never heard of him prior to a few months ago and indeed I don't suppose his story would ever have been written were it not for the horror of 9/11. He was the catholic priest who is recorded as the first fatality of the collapse of the twin towers. He died whilst ministering in the shadow of the disaster as the two buildings teetered on the brink of collapse. In his death, he became a symbol of something noble and brave but in this account that Michael Ford has drawn together we see how Mychal Judge's unique gifts were played out and used in the service of the kingdom and for the most vulnerable and the voiceless way before that fateful morning.
He was a publicity seeking, vain bloke who wanted all attention to be on himself and would use his position to achieve notice and acclaim; at the same time , he would drive hundreds of miles to sit with and console those who were mourning and nobody would know he was doing it, he would write letter after letter to those who were sad and lonely and felt lost and rejected, he would use peoples generosity to himself to assuage the sufferings of others. He would entertain and encourage, he would exasperate and exhaust in equal measure and I think he would be one of those people who would light up a room if you were in the mood to be lit up but might drive you to drink if you were in a less 'light' mood.
He was a gay catholic priest working in New York at the time of the beginning of the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1980's. He was a recovering alcoholic who attended AA meetings almost every day for the 22 years of his sobriety. There was thus a strange mix of humility and arrogance which oddly kept a balance here. He was vain and self focused but could sweep all that aside if others needed him, he was confident in himself but very conscious of how easy this edifice would collapse with one bad decision, one swift short thrown back in a bar. Thus he knew his strengths , he knew his weakness.
His courage as a gay priest in the catholic church cannot really be under-estimated. Though he was not openly active as a gay man he used his empathy and his own experiences of rejection by the institution to communicate to suffering victims that they were still important to God and welcome in his Church. He raised his head gingerly above certain parapets but raise them he did . His act of courage on 9/11 was outstanding but then so were the many other firefighters and police who died caring and trying to save on that day; What makes him so striking is the fact that he used his weaknesses and frailties to enhance and encourage others on their journeys way before. As a sober man he supported others to sobriety, as a gay man he loved and supported men who felt rejected and lost, as one who always wanted to be at the centre of attention he used this high profile reputation to gain publicity and help for others. Weaknesses and frailties..........as they say 'Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'
Michael Ford wrote this book very swiftly after the tragedy of 9/11; it is very noticeable that he does not get to talk to any close members of Judge's family and very few close friends or associates. Presumably this was because there was a closing of ranks to attempt to keep the illusion of some sort of misplaced perfection safe. This seems a shame, Michael Ford evidently admires the Mychal Judge he discovered and appeared only to want to share that admiration with the world. Indeed I did find, from time to time, that Mychal Judge appeared to be given the benefit of the doubt in a goodly number of situations where I would perhaps have placed a more self-centred slant on his behaviour than did Ford. It is a sadness that this kindly attempt at showing this courageous and good man to the world was, to an extent, hamstrung by a short sighted 'no comment' type reaction. Ironic when you consider that the one thing you could be sure with Fr Mychal Judge (and I never did satisfactorily work out why he had that odd pretentious spelling of Michael) is the very last phrase that would issue from his mouth would be 'NO Comment".
He was a publicity seeking, vain bloke who wanted all attention to be on himself and would use his position to achieve notice and acclaim; at the same time , he would drive hundreds of miles to sit with and console those who were mourning and nobody would know he was doing it, he would write letter after letter to those who were sad and lonely and felt lost and rejected, he would use peoples generosity to himself to assuage the sufferings of others. He would entertain and encourage, he would exasperate and exhaust in equal measure and I think he would be one of those people who would light up a room if you were in the mood to be lit up but might drive you to drink if you were in a less 'light' mood.
He was a gay catholic priest working in New York at the time of the beginning of the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1980's. He was a recovering alcoholic who attended AA meetings almost every day for the 22 years of his sobriety. There was thus a strange mix of humility and arrogance which oddly kept a balance here. He was vain and self focused but could sweep all that aside if others needed him, he was confident in himself but very conscious of how easy this edifice would collapse with one bad decision, one swift short thrown back in a bar. Thus he knew his strengths , he knew his weakness.
His courage as a gay priest in the catholic church cannot really be under-estimated. Though he was not openly active as a gay man he used his empathy and his own experiences of rejection by the institution to communicate to suffering victims that they were still important to God and welcome in his Church. He raised his head gingerly above certain parapets but raise them he did . His act of courage on 9/11 was outstanding but then so were the many other firefighters and police who died caring and trying to save on that day; What makes him so striking is the fact that he used his weaknesses and frailties to enhance and encourage others on their journeys way before. As a sober man he supported others to sobriety, as a gay man he loved and supported men who felt rejected and lost, as one who always wanted to be at the centre of attention he used this high profile reputation to gain publicity and help for others. Weaknesses and frailties..........as they say 'Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.'
Michael Ford wrote this book very swiftly after the tragedy of 9/11; it is very noticeable that he does not get to talk to any close members of Judge's family and very few close friends or associates. Presumably this was because there was a closing of ranks to attempt to keep the illusion of some sort of misplaced perfection safe. This seems a shame, Michael Ford evidently admires the Mychal Judge he discovered and appeared only to want to share that admiration with the world. Indeed I did find, from time to time, that Mychal Judge appeared to be given the benefit of the doubt in a goodly number of situations where I would perhaps have placed a more self-centred slant on his behaviour than did Ford. It is a sadness that this kindly attempt at showing this courageous and good man to the world was, to an extent, hamstrung by a short sighted 'no comment' type reaction. Ironic when you consider that the one thing you could be sure with Fr Mychal Judge (and I never did satisfactorily work out why he had that odd pretentious spelling of Michael) is the very last phrase that would issue from his mouth would be 'NO Comment".
August 12, 2019
Couldn’t put it down.The world needs more Mychals.
September 6, 2021
I don't think this is the greatest book ever written, however... let me put it this way... if I had disposable income, I would send a couple hundred copies of this book to each and every church, mosque and synagogue in the United States to be given away for free on the second weekend of September. Fr. Judge is the type of role model that we need more of in our daily lives regardless of your religion or politics. There is a genuine holiness that Michael Ford presents in his biography that's tangible for people — the majority of it heavily coming from the theology of St. Francis of Assisi. Keeping in mind that Ford places Fr. Judge on a pedestal (which is near impossible for any biography), he reemphasizes numerous times the humility of his biographical subject.
January 4, 2020
An inspirational man who died a sacrificial death
May 1, 2023
An inspirational book about an inspirational man who worked tirelessly for God's kingdom.
February 28, 2017
What an amazing life! I picked up this bio of the NYC fire chaplain (who was the first casualty of 9/11), expecting a work of American patriotism. But really this is a man for everyone. It's fascinating to see how he was at the crucial junctures of so many movements: the AIDS crisis in the 90's, his reexamination of his vocation in the 80's, the implementation of Vatican 2 in the 70's, growing up gay in the 40's and 50's, his work to restore unity in Northern Ireland, his struggles with alcoholism which led to mentoring thousands through AA, and of course his ministry to all of New York City. This book delves into his weakness and suffering, and how he used those as means of grace, to become more empathetic towards those around him. He really tried to be Christ to everyone he met. I grew up hearing Cardinal O'Connor's side of the story -- the two of them were frequently opposed in administrative matters, O'Connor the hard-lined conservative, Judge the compassionate Froot-Loop who wanted everyone to see the Church in a new light. But every Catholic should hear both sides of the story, and appreciate what each man was fighting for, the tremendous obstacles that the Church was facing at the time. I recommend this book for anyone interested in evangelization, which should be all of us. Father Mychal Judge didn't always have the most orthodox decisions, but he knew how to change hearts and get his foot in the door to places that most of us would pass by, and we can learn much from his example.
January 16, 2008
The story of a man - who battled many hardships. While he was saintly in nature he was still a man.
A real life hero. You'd think his saint-hood was limited to his actions on September 11th, but that was just one day. His AIDS ministry, his ministry to those who lost loved ones on Flight 800 showed him to be a compassionate sould capable of touching others in a way that is so highly unusual in this age of self-interest. Maybe we shouldn't elevate him to a saint, that makes his example seem too difficult to follow.
Slightly boring. Yawn.
A real life hero. You'd think his saint-hood was limited to his actions on September 11th, but that was just one day. His AIDS ministry, his ministry to those who lost loved ones on Flight 800 showed him to be a compassionate sould capable of touching others in a way that is so highly unusual in this age of self-interest. Maybe we shouldn't elevate him to a saint, that makes his example seem too difficult to follow.
Slightly boring. Yawn.
February 2, 2015
I am currently left wondering if Mychal wasn't born a bit later how well he and Pope Francis would have gotten on. Both have VERY similar ways of serving, and Mychal wouldn't have faced the persecution of being homosexual that the Catholic church seems to have relaxed these past few years thanks to Francis!
April 22, 2015
Amazing, inspirational man...bio bogged down in spots and sometimes difficult to follow.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews