OUR RESPONSE BEGINS WITH PRAYER

Too much bloodshed. Too much violence. The headlines can become overwhelming, even for people with deep faith.

In response to recent violent events in our country, especially Tuesday’s tragic killings in Texas, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops made this statement:

“There have been too many school shootings, too much killing of the innocent. Our Catholic faith calls us to pray for those who have died and to bind the wounds of others, and we join our prayers along with the community in Uvalde... As we do so, each of us also needs to search our souls for ways that we can do more to understand this epidemic of evil and violence and implore our elected officials to help us take action.”

As Roman Catholics, our response to any tragedy begins with prayer. We must turn to the Risen Lord Jesus to seek wisdom, courage and strength.

Here at Saint Mary’s, we will begin our prayerful response to this violence with an hour of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday, May 29. We will gather in our Church at 12:30 PM for an hour of Adoration, Scripture and sung prayer, concluding with Benediction at 1:30 PM.

Additional prayer opportunities will be announced in upcoming emails and bulletins.

In the Letter of James, we are told that “faith, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). In the days ahead, parish leaders will be praying and collaborating, seeking concrete and specific actions that we can all take to bring a Gospel-centered response to the complex problem of violence in our culture. Please watch the bulletin for more information on these initiatives.

As we pray together in the days ahead, let us make the words of Saint Francis of Assisi our own:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.