Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Like many others, I learned late in the evening (actually just before the Ash Wednesday service started) about the latest tragic shooting in Florida. Ash Wednesday is a day for remembering our mortality and dependence upon God’s grace, but the thought of so many lives ending so soon left me with a feeling of darkness and despair. How long, O Lord? How long must we journey through this desert of violence? This is the second time campus gun violence has touched our family. In 2015 shots were fired at Northern Arizona University, where my mother is a professor; 1 person killed, 3 injured. We learned last night that our cousin Terry is head of the guidance department at Douglas High School, the latest site of carnage. We are grateful that in both instances our family members were not hurt, but we can not help but think, “What if?” On Thursday morning, I went up to the preschool classrooms as I always do, but this time I was struck by the innocence of our students. As I walked in, their eyes lit up, they smiled and said, “Father Rick!” One little girl, who was eating a green grape, looked at my green sweater and said, “You’re green!” They feel completely safe and loved inside our walls--as they should. The thought of someone violating their innocence in such a horrific way first made me angry, but then profoundly sad. How long, O Lord? The swift response of Florida’s governor to offer his “thoughts and prayers,” but not “politicize” the event at this time, was not at all surprising. Legislators in that state have done little to prevent the proliferation of deadly arms. This failure to act not only hurts their state, but makes the I-95 corridor a veritable conveyor belt of guns destined for Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and beyond. As people of faith, prayer is certainly in order. But as thoughtful citizens, we are called to act, and this year we have an especially powerful tool to use--our votes. Let’s not squander this opportunity to make this a more perfect union, while still honoring our constitutional rights.
Here are some reasons why:
Columbine High School, Colorado, April 1999
Heritage High School, Georgia, 1999
Deming High School, New Mexico 1999
Buell Elementary School, Michigan, 1999
Lakeworth Middle School, Florida, 2000
Santana High School, California, 2001
Red Lion Jr High School, 2001
Rocori High School Minnesota, 2003
Red Lake High School, Minnesota, 2005
Campbell County Comprehensive High School, Tennessee, 2005
Essex Elementary School, Vermont, 2006
Weston High School, Wisconsin, 2006
West Nickel Mines School, Pennsylvania, 2006
Millard South High School, Nebraska, 2009
Chardon High School, Ohio, 2012
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut, 2012
Sparks Middle School, Nevada, 2013
Arapahoe High School, Colorado, 2013
Reynolds High School, Oregon, 2014
Marysville High School, Washington, 2014
Independent High School, Arizona, 2016
Townville Elementary School, North Carolina, 2016
North Park Elementary School, California, 2017
Freeman High School, Washington, 2017
Marshall County High School, Kentucky, 2018
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida, 2018
Kyrie eleison.
Fr Rick
