By Susan Ciancio
On the Feast of St. Monica, a mother who certainly understood sorrow, unspeakable evil shattered the lives of many when a gunman shot into a Catholic church during a school Mass and sprayed bullets at random, killing two young children and wounding 17 innocent people.
And now, like St. Monica, parents and strangers alike weep for these children, for the injured, and for innocence lost. In the days to come, we will undoubtedly learn more about the incredibly disturbed man who killed them, about his satanic drawings, about the hatred he felt, and more. He is dead, but the wake of his evil lives on, as it has forever changed the lives of his victims and their families.
Yet, as faithful people, we understand that the horror he gave birth to can live on in one of two ways: It can lead to further anger and hatred, or it can open the door for Christ’s light.
We read in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus told His disciples, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.”
We can certainly see that evil was sown in this young man’s life. That in itself is another tragedy, for he is yet one more casualty of our culture of death—one that teaches that violence is the answer to anger and is acceptable in any situation. While he absolutely had other mental health issues that affected his actions, we cannot discount the outside influence of evil on him.
We also understand that this most recent attack is indicative of a larger societal problem. The gunman’s callous disregard for life, his desire to indiscriminately kill the innocent, and his hatred for others is proof that evil exists and that Satan is rejoicing gleefully at those who do his bidding.
Yet August 27 was not the only day that evil has manifested itself in our cities. This evil was born of the many anti-life practices today, as our society teaches that hatred of others is normal, that it’s okay (and even encouraged) to kill a baby in the womb, that children are possessions to be obtained through IVF and surrogacy, that it’s acceptable for parents to advocate for the mutilation of their children, and that those who are ill and elderly are of no use and should be killed through physician-assisted suicide.
When we continually allow this culture of death to permeate our society, we become participants in Satan’s work.
But we must have hope in Christ, and we must trust in His goodness, for He said, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
During these dark times when it seems like the weeds of evil have gotten a stranglehold on us and when despair attempts to overwhelm us, we must cling to God even harder. He is our rock, our refuge, and our loving Father.
We can allow evil to have this victory, or we can fight harder to sow the seeds of God’s goodness and truth.
As people of faith, we know our response can only be the latter. But that takes effort, determination, and daily work.
We must teach our children that all human beings—no matter their age or stage—have value, and that starts with them individually. When our children love themselves for who God created them to be, they will be more likely to love others. Self-respect is crucial in today’s culture so that kids don’t fall prey to a society that teaches that only certain people have worth. Kids need to understand that they are valuable, that they matter, and that they have a mission to fulfill in this world. They must then translate that to understanding that same thing about every other person who exists.
This is a lesson that we as parents must constantly reinforce in conversations, in the books we read, and in the media we expose them to. And then we must live accordingly. We too must treat others, even those we don’t like, with respect and love. We do this because it’s what Christ commands of us, as He taught, “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”
He didn’t say love only certain people. We are to love everyone. That does not mean that we condone evil or sin, but we love so that others learn that same love. That’s how we sow the good seeds. That’s how we conquer evil. And that’s how we lead others to heaven.