Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

Thinking of Tucson

Now that the shootings in Tucson are playing themselves out in recoveries, hospital discharges, and (unfortunately) funerals and memorials, we may be tempted to close the book and move on. But that is most certainly a temptation.

Why? Because what happened is unfinished — unfinished in the sense that its ultimate meaning will come not just from what happened, but what we as individuals and as communities do with it. What happened lies beyond our control. What we will do is very much in our hands.

And it is there, as we make decisions about what we can do, that we will best look for God. He is part of the meaning of the Tucson events, not so much in what happened and certainly not in causing the bloodshed and suffering, but in what can come now. That is why prayer is so important for us right now and in the future, asking God that we may be open to possibilities that can come despite the evil that was done.