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Health & Fitness

Compassion Speaks: NEWTOWN – The Aftermath

Reflections on fith-fille

By Susan McCarthy, RDC

’Twas 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38
when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.
Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.
They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.
They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.
. . .They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day. . .
                                 Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA

Conversation between friends:

Friend #1: Thanks.  I had already received a copy.  It’s very uplifting.  I need uplifting about this whole situation.  I am SO SICK of these people going out to BUY GUNS before the laws clamp down on them!  What planet are they from?  Are we citizens of the same country?

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Someone just reminded me that we are not going to change those people.  We just have to begin to help others to know and experience love and compassion in their lives!

Yes, Jesus is still the light . . .  (thanks for allowing me to vent!)

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Friend #2: I hear you loud and strong.  The good news comes over the air waves from both sides of the aisle that this has been a truly life-altering event and changes will come.   It is just tragic that these little souls had to pay the price. 


Anne Curry of NBC News:
“What if? Imagine if everyone could commit to doing one act of kindness for every one of those children killed in Newtown.”  So that’s what I tweeted.

I know the truth: if you do good, you feel good.  It’s the most selfish thing you
can do.  Right now, this country wants to heal.  I think the only thing comforting
in the face of a tragedy like this is to do something good with it if you can.  Be a
part of that wave.

ARE YOU IN?

P.S. Can we do an Act of Kindness on behalf of Nancy Lanza, too?  And her son?
http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2012/12/18/15975855-26acts-of-kindness-you-can-do-right-now?lite


Sunday Sermon for December 16Rev. Gary Hall http://www.nationalcathedral.org/worship/sermonArchive.shtml  

“. . . The only reliable way I know through something like this is to start with my own response, trusting that in many ways it resembles yours, and then holding that response up to the Gospel light, asking God what we should all do next. . . ..

[W]hat are we, as people of faith, to do?  As a way into answering that question, I turn to this morning’s Gospel passage, the account of John the Baptist addressing the crowds who are coming to him out of some kind of personal and spiritual and social desperation.  What does he say to them?  “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”  What he means is: stop doing the crazy thing you’re doing and do a new thing, a new thing that will bear fruit, [that] will bring about the change you seek.

“Which leads me to say, on behalf of this faith community at least: enough is enough.  As followers of Jesus, we have the moral obligation to stand for and with the victims of gun violence and to work to end it.  We have tolerated school shootings, mall shootings, theater shootings, sniper shootings, workplace shootings, temple and church shootings, urban neighborhood shootings, for far too long.  The massacre of these 28 people in Connecticut is, for me at least, the last straw.  And I believe it is for you.  Enough is enough.  The Christian community—indeed the entire American faith community—can no longer tolerate this persistent and escalating gun violence directed against our people.  Enough is enough. . . .”

 

Statement of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR):
“The tragedy of the past days has called the nation into a period of mourning.  We are all deeply affected by the killings in Newtown, Connecticut.  Perhaps it was the thought of first graders suffering such brutality, innocent children enduring trauma just before Christmas.  Perhaps it was the tragedy of yet another young person losing complete control while suffering from mental illness.  Perhaps it is the poignant reminder that every day in urban areas, children are gunned down, often by other children.  There is much to mourn, but mourning is not enough.  The killing must stop.  America is losing its future.  Gun regulation is an imperative.  Automatic weapons created for the battlefield have no place in the hands of children or adults incapable of taking responsibility for their use.  This societal rupture has been going on far too long and demands immediate action by our national leaders.  This is not about protecting the Second Amendment, but rather protecting the most precious resource we have – the gift of life.   This is also a time to restore civility to our world and work to change the pervasive culture of violence around throughout this nation, and especially in the entertainment industry. . . .

“We draw your attention, as well, to a nation-wide effort to remember the 20 children and six adults killed in Newtown.  Motherhouses, monasteries, churches, and town halls are being asked to ring their bells on December 28, the feast of the Holy Innocents, at noon (EST) and pause for a moment of silence to pray for all the families who have lost loved ones.  Perhaps your motherhouses and the parishes where your sisters minister would like to join in this effort.

“Let us remember that together we can overcome the deep darkness of these times by the radiant light of our own lives and actions.”


The Sisters of the Divine Compassion rang the Divine Compassion Chapel bells on December 28 as a sign of our prayer for the victims (one of whom, Anne Marie McGowan Murphy, was a student of ours) and as a sign of our commitment to an end to a culture of violence.

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