By Father Steve Pawelk 

On the feast of Saint Monica, the people of Annunciation School and Parish gathered for the opening day Mass. A time of celebration, of great hope, for a new future for God’s blessing. Unfortunately, two of those children will never come home. And 17 of them ended up in a hospital. This is not what a Christian nation should experience.  

I am a native of Minnesota. This is my home state. I invite us to reflect on what is happening in our nation.  

First and most importantly, Glenmary gives our condolences, our prayers, and our love to the community of Annunciation Parish for the victims, the mothers and fathers, and all those wounded. 

But this cannot continue. And so, I invite you to reflect, not on the second amendment of the Constitution, but the fifth commandment: thou shall not kill. And the second great commandment of Jesus Christ: love your neighbor as yourself. 

We, as members of the body of Christ, are part of a nation that is suffering from an inability to resolve conflict in a positive way. We do not know how to respond to ill mental health. We do not know what to do with our anger, with our hatred, with discrimination and prejudice. And rather than showing a nation of love, mercy, and compassion, taking the hard steps of walking with people to undo areas of hatred and anger, we remain silent. 

There has to be a different way. Getting involved with the political game of blame does not work. Look, I come from a family of farmers in Minnesota. We were hunters. My brother-in-law and my brother go out to a target shooting. This is not about guns. This is about a nation of love. And a gun becomes a weapon when it’s pointed at somebody. Weapons don’t protect us. 

So, we as Christians: how do we respond in love to such tragedy, to such loss of innocent life, to such destruction of gunshots going through a church when Mass is happening? Our weapon, our protection against evil, is the Holy Word of God. This living Word of Jesus Christ must be in our hearts. It must be in all that we do. It must take action in how we love one another, in how we help the disadvantaged, in how we help those who are mentally ill, in how we help children and adults, in how we overcome prejudice and discrimination. I don’t know how many more tears I can shed for victims of violence.  

You know, I was a pastor at St. Teresa of Kolkata, in Maynardville, Tennesse. And we created a box there for prayers made by the Boy Scouts. And the bottom of that box it says, “dedicated to the victims of Sandy Hook.” That was thirteen years ago. 

This must end—these random shootings and the self-hatred that is so great that they want to take others with them. Let us gather together as the body of Christ. As members of the Catholic Church and Christians and good people of will, let us create a better nation where love, mercy, and compassion rule, not hatred, discrimination, and violence.  

Thank you, and may God bless each of you as we grieve together as a nation the loss of more innocent lives.