Pray for Orlando

Tragedy has once again struck our nation, this time at the nightclub Pulse in Orlando. Yet again, we face the loss of life, the evil of religious-political extremism, and the horror of gun violence. Fifty lives have been snuffed out and fifty-three are injured and scarred, with many in critical condition. We mourn alongside our brothers and sisters of the LGBTQ community.

We, as a nation, must take action. First, we pray: for healing, for hope, and for the conversion of hearts. We even pray for those who possess the capacity to inflict such evil, that we might one day be able to forgive the perpetrators of such heinous crimes.

Our prayer, though, must lead us to act. We need to petition our lawmakers, demanding that deadly weapons of war like the AR-15 stay out of the hands of civilians. We need responsible background checks to keep guns away from those who prove to be psychologically unstable and dangerous. We also continue to explore how we, as a nation, can better track those criminal minds who are poisoned by violent religious or political ideologies without compromising basic liberties and rights afforded to all citizens.

One of the most challenging responses I've read in light of Sunday morning's attack in Orlando comes from Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida. See the bishops' thought-provoking blogpost here: http://bishopsblog.dosp.org/?p=6644.
The bishop of St. Petersburg challenges all religious people, particularly Catholic-Christians, to truly care for all men and women, including those who identify as LGBTQ. Our Lord Jesus teaches us to love all. The Church is called to faithfully carry out this command of love. Yet, oftentimes, we have allowed prejudices and contempt to prevent us from seeing the "other" as made in the image and likeness of God. If our faith is not touched by love, then it is possible that our religion can become a polemics that leads to extremism.

In light of such violence and hatred, we must stand together as a people of peace!