From ruthless corporate life to peace as a Jesuit - Illuminations - author James Martin - Interview

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 26, 2001 by Retta Blaney

Martin, who didn't know any of the victims, approached the workers at the site casually, asking them how they were doing, leaving them the opportunity to open up. Some did, others just needed a friendly conversation. Some, like the ironworkers, were unprepared for their task. "They'd say, `When I started my career I didn't know I'd be pulling out dead bodies,' " Martin said.

On the Sunday after the Tuesday attack, Martin said Mass a couple yards from the ruins. Various signs had been spray painted around the area, marking different sites such as those for eye washing and for the morgue. At the space where Martin had said Mass, someone later spray-painted in big orange letters: "Body of Christ."

Retta Blaney is a freelance writer living in New York.