It should come as no surprise that I begin this column reflecting on the horror that happened in Las Vegas on Sunday night and the senseless murder of over 50 innocent people and the wounding of over 500 people at the hands of one man who caused all of this destruction and grief for so many who were affected by this violent act.  Firstly, we hopefully have been, and still are, praying for the victims and their families whose shock and suffering are hard for us to imagine.  As Christians, we are called to pray, as well, for the perpetrator of this terrible act.  His disrespect for human life, including his own, is clear and hard to fathom.  Our faith tells us that God is always with us and is "close to the brokenhearted" (Ps 34:16).  This tragedy happened at the beginning of "Respect Life Month."  Someone has commented that the more we witness these "Mass Killings," the greater is the chance that we can become complacent and not horrified by these killings no matter whether it's a few or many victims.  Perhaps that complacency has already been happening when it comes to the killing of so many lives through abortion each day.  We can't, and shouldn't, ever look the other way when human life, especially innocent human life, is being destroyed.  Rather we should firstly, pray for a change in more minds and hearts toward respect, or greater respect, and awe for every human life given to us by God, and do what we can personally to grow in respect for human lives ourselves.  Please read the inserts which will be put in the bulletins a few times this month, and reflect upon how "WE" can make the world in which we live more respectful of all human life from the womb to tomb.

There are never easy answers to the serious problems we face individually or as a country.  I hope, though, that we can all agree that the starting point is God, and striving to do what Jesus taught and did in His perfect life.  From that starting point, many blessings and hopefully solutions will follow.