Santa Clara University

Memorial message for Deora Bodley, 1981-2001

Santa Clara Mission de Asis, Sept. 21, 2001
Paul Locatelli, S.J.
President, Santa Clara University

Deora: Glimpse of the Face of God

On Sept. 11, the pictures of large airliners plowing into the towers of the World Trade Center seemed surreal. When the evil quickly sunk in, we were horrified by the loss of lives. Our hearts quickly became troubled. And even more deeply when we learned of the loss of Deora who was part of our family.

Her story has been multiplied thousands of times over. So as we mourn her death, we also remember the others and their family and friends. We remember Christopher Duffy who died in New York; he is the brother of Caitlan Duffy an incoming student from New York. And, we remember Navy Captain Lawrence Getzfred, class of 1971, who died at the Pentagon.

We celebrate the gift of life especially of Deora and of the other members of our Santa Clara family, and the more than 6,000 -- who are now fully alive among the communion of saints in a new life with God. They are at peace, beyond evil, suffering, and death itself.

We are the ones still in search of peace. We are the ones left behind who have to make sense of life and death, pain and peace. Distressed and hurt, we search for answers. Let us learn from the story about Jesus and his friends:

Walking toward Jerusalem, Jesus foresees that he would soon die. Stopping along the way, his mood is somber. They don't like the hints that he will soon leave them. And, we find Jesus more concerned about his friends than his own fate. He gives his friends -- and us -- a new commandment: to love one another as he -- Jesus -- loved them -- and now loves us.

Jesus still teaches us how to love. He called simple people like Peter and Mary Magdalene to be his friends. He helped the rich and powerful like Zacchaeus and the Roman Centurion. He visited the home of Martha and Mary and brought life back to their brother, Lazarus. Whomever he met, Jesus embraced them with love and gave them a sense of belonging. .

He taught us to care for widows and widowers, to heal the sick and to invite the poor and marginalized of society to be our friends. Jesus showed us the face of God when He held and blessed children, just as Deora did. Listen to some of the children of St Clare’s:

"Deora is very special.

Deora was a wonderful teacher and role model.

Deora makes the sun brighter.

Deora helped me read.

Deora and I did homework in the library together.

God bless Deora's soul, and those who cared for her.

Deora, all the kids at St. Clare's just love you. We will miss you so much, and we will take care of those kids for you.

Deora is cool."

We see God’s face in the generous response of people from around the world. Not letting September 11th fuel our rightful anger, we reach out in love. That is what Deora would want us to do. She would want courage and grace, generosity and love to dwell in our hearts as we see in her parents, Debby and Derrill. Rephrasing their words, they said:

"What Deora always wanted for everyone was to find heaven on earth, and that there be no language barrier... because.....of where you are from, or who you are, or what you do. ... the common language for all is the language of peace.

And.... that we not give in to the terror and the horror and the devastation....because the ultimate goal is peace . . . And peace rooted in justice will bring us closer to the heaven that Deora -- and I add, her parents -- hope to see."

We see the face of God -- in Deora’s love for family and friends, in her service to community, in her concern for others, and in her smile and laughter -- as we read in messages in front of the Mission Church.

"You had a wonderful heart and spirit. You were surrounded by a beautiful life and I ask you now to watch over Bridget, your friends, and your family. They need the smiles that you once brought now more than ever. You are in my thoughts and prayers."

"...God now has you in his arms."

"You are away, but you will be loved forever. You will be missed, but remembered fondly. Peace in Christ and on earth is my prayer. God bless what we become through our loss."

With grace-filled hearts, God let others find them in the midst of tragedy:

"God will prevail over this senseless evil."

"Lord, I pray this day that you will be with all the victims and to comfort them. I pray that your hand will be with everyone and keep us from evil. Bring Justice for those responsible for such an evil act. Just please shed your grace and glory upon America, and the world. God bless everyone."

"Faces we never see, people we will never know, but a bond that will last forever...God bless the brave people whose lives ended in an act of hatred."

As the people of this world search for answers, we turn to God asking to transform our troubled hearts into hearts of peace, and to turn those with hearts of stone into human hearts of love. Those with generous hearts of peace and love will make good prevail over evil, and understand that the final word is not hate, but love.

Then will we live as one people – whether we call God Abba, Allah, All-knowing One, Yahweh, or Christ.

I believe the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins saw the glory and goodness of God in people like Deora when he wrote:

"What in God's eyes [s]he is -- Christ. For Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his... To the Father through the features of men's and [women's] faces."

God has already blessed and embraced Deora. She has shown us his face. Now may God bless and comfort each one of us with peace and hope, faith and love.

Excerpts from remarks of Paul Locatelli, S.J., President of Santa Clara University

Upon the dedication of a rose corner and permanent plaque at the Mission Church on September 25, 2002

These four roses are being dedicated to those who lost their lives or were affected by the attack on the United States and the world on September 11, 2001.

The Peach Sunset Celebration rose commemorates Deora Bodley, Santa Clara student, class of 2003, who died when Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania. She was on her way back to Santa Clara. We are pleased that Deora’s mother, Debbie Borza, and her father, Derrill Bodley, have joined us today for this ceremony.

The white Pascali rose honors Capt. Lawrence D. Getzfred, USN, class of 1971, killed in the attack on the Pentagon.

The red Mr. Lincoln rose commemorates the relatives and friends of Santa Clara students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We remember especially Christopher Duffy, the older brother of sophomore Caitlin Duffy.

The pink Our Lady of Guadalupe rose honors all others who died or were injured, especially the rescue workers at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A common tragedy helped us all realize that we were united in vulnerability and also in shared grief. Most Americans did not personally know any of the 3,000 people murdered on September 11, but almost all of us shared a kinship of mourning with the families and friends who had lost loved ones. Naturally, that initial sense of community bound by tragedy and threat has faded somewhat as we recovered and returned to some changed sense of normalcy, but it continues to tell us something about what is important in life, especially, family and friends.

We learned again two important lessons: the first is the importance of being engaged citizens who seek the common good.

Last year, we saw the community join in harmony which we often take for granted in times of prosperity. We saw a common good binding us together, as sisters and brothers across the typical boundaries of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, and national origin.

Our immediate response to tragedy and suffering is to connect with others, to come together in prayer, to reach across ethnic and religious lines to affirm that we are all in this together. Some of the best things in life happen only when we share them in common: conversation, family, friendship, art, education, celebration and ritual. That common good is richer and more rewarding than the pursuit of our private good. It calls us to tend to the fabric of our society, to the personal and institutional ties that bind us.

An appreciation of the common good should lead us and our leaders to see that the United States can not and should not go it alone in the world. Since our decisions resonate throughout this single moral ecology, we must understand ourselves as citizens of a global community whose decisions shape the world.

The second, more important, lesson is the experience love... love brings us together as community and friends, as family and neighbor.

Love bound families and friends even closer together. And those of us who knew one of the victims or their families reached out with love even when at times, we felt feeble in our efforts.

In the end, it is love that will lead nations to beat their swords into ploughshares, and people to love tenderly and walk together humbly with their God.

In the spirit of Micah, may we hope and pray for a peace founded on justice and truth, compassion and love.

*

Debbie Borza, mother of Deora Bodley ’03 read

from the book of Micah:

In days to come

the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established

as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be raised up above the hills.

Peoples shall stream to it,

and many nations shall come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between many peoples,

and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;

they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more;

but they shall all sit under their own vines

and under their own fig trees,

and no one shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.