On Friday, a devastating tragedy happened when 26 people were killed in an elementary school, twenty of them being children between the ages of 6 and 7.

I was an elementary/middle school teacher for three years before I moved here to Texas. And as I heard more and more about the tragedy, I kept imagining my own students from those years being shot down and left to die on the classroom floor. It sent more than one chill up my spine and that afternoon, as I was running errands, I listened to the newscast on my radio and gasped tears.

I'm truly left without words. So, instead I will point you to other great articles by people who do have words and wise ones at that:

• "Where was God Yesterday?" - Susan Stabile's blog
• Where Were You, God? A Prayer for Newtown - Fr James Martin, SJ
• Gaudete Sunday: How Can You Feel Joy After Newtown Shooting? - Rev Emily Heath
• Praying a Deep Sigh - Rev Jacqueline Lewis
• The Mystery of Pain, the Solace of Faith - Fr James Martin SJ
• In Wake of Newtown Tragedy, Love More Important than Explanations - Brad Hirschfield
• Newton Tragedy - A Vincentian Prays - Fr Bob Stone, CM
• Tragedy at Newtown, CT - Sr Denise, DC

The real reason I'm writing is not to point you to spiritual and theological articles/blogs about yesterday (though that is nice), but rather to suggest what you can do next.

• Donate: A Trappist abbey is donating handmade caskets for all those affected in the tragedy (see this article) The abbey frequently donates or discounts child caskets to families, especially in times of tragedy. However, to make up for the cost of the materials, the abbey has set up a Child Casket Fund so that more families don't have to face the burden of buying caskets for their children.
• Speak out: Has this tragedy affected your views on gun control? Don't keep it to yourself. Write your elected officials. Demand change. Do what you can to prevent this from ever happening again.
  On a perhaps more difficult note, talk out your feelings. Talk to your children about what happened (see this article on how to do it) so that they can do the same.
• Pray: Pray for the souls of the victims. Pray for their families. Pray for the family of the shooter. Pray for those left behind - the children and teachers who have lost their friends and co-workers, for whom life will never be the same. And pray for our world.
• Love: Just love.

(Have you read any other faith-related articles about the tragedy? Or know of any other related organizations to donate to? Leave it in the comments!)

Does God want you to be miserable?: Reflections from Jon Acuff

Among the many blogs I follow, one is "Stuff Christians Like" written by Jon Acuff. Why? Because his stuff is hilarious, because it makes you wonder "oh my gosh, are there really Christians out there like that?" and because sometimes it'll really make you think.

His latest blog post is Does God want you to be miserable?. He explores the question "why do we assume that when we give God our life He's going to make us do what we hate?" which is actually quite a good question about vocation. Why do some people discerning think that, in order to become a Sister or a priest, they need to give up what they're passionate about? Why do they think that they'll be miserable but hey, they'll be doing what God wants them to do, right? Because there's something in today's Christian society - and I don't know what it is or where it came from - that tells us that.

Here is an excerpt from his blog entry. 

I do a joke when I speak to church groups. I say, “Every Christian knows that the first thing God does if you give him your life is make you move to Africa to become a missionary. You’ll go zero to hut in about 4.2 seconds.” And folks laugh, but there’s a crazy truth behind that joke. If we think the first thing God will do to us if we come close to him is the worst thing we can imagine, then we serve the worst God ever. 

If you’re not wired to be a missionary in Guam, if nothing about that feels at all like what God has uniquely created you to do, why would he immediately call you to that task if you trusted him with your life?

Go check out the rest of his post. It's worth the read!

Vincentians in Bolivia

One of the blogs I follow is "Voces Vicentinas" written by Fr. Aidan Rooney, an American Vincentian priest, who lives in the Altiplano in Bolivia. I read his entries with nostalgia, although I lived in a different city hours away. Today, he posted an entry on schools in Bolivia that I have to share because it almost completely echoes my own experience in Cochabamba:

His blog entry: Having What You Need

If you'd like to donate to Fr. Aidan's many ministries, click here. Although I've never met him personally (though I've heard great things about him from Sisters!), I have no problem saying that he's a great example of the whole Vincentian mission. The Vincentians were founded by St. Vincent de Paul and are the "brother community" of the Daughters of Charity. The two have always been intertwined, sharing a common history and supporting each other - their Superior General is also the Superior General of the Sisters, for example.

On a lighter note, check out this video of the Superior General of the Vincentians, Fr Gregory Gay (a Baltimorean!), during his visit to Bolivia. The hilarity starts around 3:00. (By the way, I'm really impressed with Fr. Gregory's Spanish!)

The May 21 Movement

By now, everyone's seen the billboards, posters, etc. Here is an excellent blog post by Matthew Paul Turner about the May 21 believers and among other things, on the psychological damage movements like these do to kids....

A BLOG POST: 11 days until Judgment Day (and I’m not laughing) | Jesus Needs New PR

Here's a taste of what he says:

Because there’s nothing funny about kids believing and anticipating THE END. And while I know that the kids who believe in May 21st have what they consider to be “great faith in Jesus,”–trust me, they are scared. They’re nervous. Some of them aren’t sleeping. They’re asking lots of questions. They’re hoping that it isn’t true. But they believe it is.