Dear Brother Knights,
We are deeply saddened at the loss of live and injuries caused by the shooting at Annunciation Church in Minnesota. This senseless act of violence is even more painful in that it took place at a school Mass for young children on the first day of school.
Jesus has conquered sin and death, but that needs to be realized in individuals. As this event shows, the evil one still tempts us towards evil. He tempts us not to accept redemption in Christ, which is lived out in charity and prayer.
This horrible tragedy took place during the celebration of the greatest prayer, the Mass. The Mass being the re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice of himself to the Father. Jesus was there at that Mass, present with those children. And Jesus is always with us.
Since this tragedy, I have heard pundits speak with cynicism about the fruits of prayer in response to this incident. It goes something along the lines of “prayers don’t stop school shootings” or “the kids were literally praying, so offering prayers as a response isn’t going to help.”
Prayer is not a transaction; prayer is conversation with God that develops our relationship with him. Yes, one of the aspects of prayer is intercessory prayer. But, we don’t pray as some kind of magical formula to end all tragedy or end all evil. Evil will always be in our midst.
Jesus himself on the cross, as he was suffering for us, prayed to his Heavenly Father. Cynical bystanders were telling him if he’s really the Messiah, he should pray to his Father to be spared of this death, and yet, as we know that didn’t happen.
Annunciation church in Minnesota is hundreds of miles away from us. There is not a whole lot that we can do to help them in a practical way right now. However, prayer is the one thing we can absolutely offer right now for the people affected by this horrible event.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Kipper
