Jackie Cazares

Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, Alithia Ramirez, Amerie Jo Garza, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, Eliahana Cruz Torres, Eliana “Ellie” Garcia, Jackie Cazares, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Jayce Luevanos, Jose Flores, Layla Salazar, Makenna Lee Elrod, Maite Rodriguez, Miranda Mathis, Nevaeh Bravo, Rojelio Torres, Tess Marie Mata, Uziyah Garcia, Xavier Lopez, Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia. No, this is not a list of children who will make their first communion this weekend. It is the list of the 19 children who were murdered in their classroom in Uvalde, TX last week and their two teachers. I am filled with sadness as I think of this terrible tragedy. Our heart goes out to the parents who weren’t able to pick up their children from school on May 24th. We offer our condolences to their grandparents, aunts, uncles and family members. We have no words for their brothers and sisters and classmates who lost their friends and suffered through this terrible tragedy. Yes, it is a terrible tragedy and our hearts our overflowing with sadness and love for the people of Uvalde, TX. But I am also angry. I am angry because this tragedy shouldn’t have happened. I believe it didn’t have to happen and I also believe that we can and must do something to protect our children in our schools, our seniors at the grocery store, people in movie theaters and parishioners in our churches and places of worship. As Catholic Christians we have a very consistent ethic that upholds the value of human life. We also believe in the right to bear arms, the right to privacy, the right to choose, the right to free speech and even the right to not get vaccinated. But we don’t believe that those rights are inviolable. That means that as Catholic Christians these rights are never simply for our own good, but always for the good of the community. If the exercise of my individual right infringes on right to life of another than my right is subservient to the right to life of another human being. Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. The birth of the Church. We pray for our outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our Church and our World. May the Spirit teach us to love one another. May the Spirit give us the courage to protect our children from those who would do them harm.