The horror felt is real, because the carnage of massacre was horrifying. Twenty young children, slain for no good reason. Adam Lanza just decided they were inconvenient to him. It was horribly wrong to do this. What Lanza did was wrong not because the parents of those children loved them and wanted them to remain alive. What Lanza did was wrong because each those children was an individual, uniqu... More

One topic inexorably brought up during times like this is the influence of video games on young adults. But why? Video games are but one of many ways human beings entertain themselves. There’s an entire media complex filled with television shows, movies and music that, more than we realize, influence our actions. So why are so many commentators blaming video games for what happened in Newtown, ... More

I will make bold to share a note that I happened upon on Facebook this morning. In full disclosure, I was in seminary for one year with Father Luke Suarez, parochial vicar at St. Rose of Lima parish in Newtown, Connecticut. He is one of the gentlest and most generous souls I’ve known. As I remarked on Facebook when I saw the below picture, I had never seen him without a smile on his face and... More

Father Luke Suarez, center, parochial vicar, and Monsignor William Weiss, right, pastor at St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown, CT, distraught at the crime. Obviously no mere human words can undo the pain nor answer the questions nor fully and completely show a way forward from the horror of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. By “way forward” I’m not talking about government po... More

On Christmas morning 1863 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow found himself in a darkened place at odds with the solemn joy of the day. He had never recovered from the death of his second wife, Frances. She died an agonizing death two years earlier after her dress caught fire in a freak accident while Longfellow napped. He managed to snuff the fire with his own body, but she lingered in that state, succumb... More

On Friday, we were all shocked and stunned to hear of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. It was an unspeakable crime. Every time I see a headline of human tragedy, particularly involving large numbers of innocent people, I can’t help putting it in the context of abortion. There’s a noon Mass that I sometimes frequent and one of the attendees, when asked to share additional prayers f... More