It is bittersweet but not difficult to find a positive outcome from the terrible events of Sept. 11. Americans were reminded that heroes are more common than we may have thought.

Firemen rushing into burning buildings to save perfect strangers are heroes. Policemen and National Guard troops serving as security agents are heroes. Soldiers searching caves for terrorists are heroes. Civilians with the unbelievable courage to fight back against jet hijackers and give their lives to save others are heroes. A U.S. president with the courage to speak the truth and refuse to blink is a hero.

At a time when it often seems folks are getting fat and lazy, it turns out we have lots of people with superhuman courage. We need it.

To be honest, I don't personally know many people who fit these visible, dramatic categories of hero. But I do know lots of heroes.

The heroes I know don't get so much recognition — at least not as much as they deserve. They are pretty anonymous folks.

And in praising them, I don't in any way demean the amazing heroes we discovered over the past few months. Putting on your hardhat and boots and walking into a burning building to save the lives of strangers can't be belittled.

But my heroes are special — at least to me. They ought to have their pictures in the news magazines and on cereal boxes. That ain't gonna happen, but they remain heroes.

Several of my heroes are teachers or administrators at a small Catholic school where I serve as a board member. They work hard. They don't have the fat budgets of the public schools. They certainly aren't getting rich in a material sense. They just spend their lives forming tomorrow's leaders and Catholics. They are heroes.

A good friend left his lucrative corporate career to work for the Church. He used to worry about how to invest his fat income and whether his stock options would increase in value. Now he worries about how to help other people and the condition of his prayer life. He used to worry about getting to the office on time. Now he worries about getting to eucharistic adoration. He is a hero.

My parish priest reminds us frequently of the beauty of the sacrament of confession. Before, during and after several Masses each Sunday, he sits in his confessional.

If he isn't celebrating Mass, he is listening to the faithful, who form long lines outside his confessional. He takes great care with each person and is a font of both counsel and solace. He is a hero.

Several young religious coworkers are serving in my community. They have given up a year or two of their regular lives to be missionaries and witnesses to young people in elementary schools, high schools and colleges. They have put their own lives on hold for a long period of time to serve Christ. They are heroes.

I have a wife and two children who tolerate my many faults and shortcomings and are there for me when I need love and support. They are heroes.

And this scarcely touches the wealth of common heroes I encounter each day. Christ gives us each the chance to be heroes by simply living lives of faith, hope and charity.

I'm afraid that I let too many days pass without accepting Christ's challenge for my life. Perhaps in remembrance of the Sept. 11 heroes, I should resolve to better accept his grace and work a little harder to be that hero he knows I can be.

Jim Fair writes from Chicago.