It Makes Me Think
Last week we had another mass shooting. This one was in a church and involved children. Places of worship are not immune to attack. The Babylonians (6th Century B.C.) and the Romans both destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem (70 A.D.). God allowed this because of the sins of his people.
In last week’s shooting, the children were in church for an opening Mass for the new school year. At the time I write this, it is unknown whether or not the shooter meant to shoot children. What we do know is that two children are dead with eighteen others, mostly children, were injured. The shooter killed himself.
It makes me think. What is wrong with our world?
How could this happen? Some say we need more gun restriction laws. They may have a point at times but in this case, the guns were legally purchased, and the shooter was not on anyone’s watchlist. So, I don’t know if more restrictive gun laws would have made a difference in this case.
The shooter, a man named Robert Wessman, who identified as “Robin,” struggled with gender confusion (Tyler Arnold, “Minneapolis Catholic chruch shooter expressed regret about ‘gender transition.” Catholic News Agency. 8/29/25. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/266243/minneapolis-catholic-church-shooter-expressed-regret-about-gender-transition). However, he was the shooter, not the victim, so it is unclear whether or not his gender confusion had anything directly to do with the shooting. What is clear is that his writings found after the shooter said he identified as a sad person, knew what he was doing was wrong, but couldn’t stop himself (Tyler Arnold, “Minneapolis Catholic Church shooter mocked Christ in video before attack.” Catholic News Agency. 8/27/25. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/266215/minneapolis-catholic-church-shooter-mocked-christ-in-video-before-attack).
Why was he not receiving proper mental health care? In a world with much suffering, we need to strengthen our mental health care system. This is necessary if we want to stop the violence. Jesus calls us to care for the sick (Matthew 25:36). This includes their mental health.
Some people look at all the terrible things going on in the world and wonder if the end is near.
I hope so.
When people ask if the end is near, they are thinking about the end times. As Jesus says, “But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36).
When I say I hope the end is near, I am not necessarily speaking about the end times. I am hoping for an end to the downward spiral to the state of our world. Many people have abandoned their faith. Many people have lost a sound understanding of Christian morality. They are more interested in freedom than faith.
What has the emphasis on freedom and the loss of faith and morality brought us? Hatred and polarization. From these come the mass shootings.
Society has also lost its respect for life. There is a slippery slope from taking the life of babies in the womb and prematurely ending the life of a terminally ill person to gang killings and mass shootings.
We face a “cancel culture” where people simply ignore anyone who disagrees with them. Ignoring is far better than shooting people who think differently but the ignoring feeds the polarization and the hatred. If we stop listening to a person who disagrees with us (cancel their words), do we also stop caring about them? The former does not require the latter, but it puts us on a slippery slope to not valuing the person. If we see the person as having no value, why not eliminate them?
Let me be clear. Every human life has value for every human life is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27. For more on the dignity of life, please see Part I of my video series, Treating Life with Dignity and Love).
We have not been given a motive yet for Westman’s shooting. One would suppose it is likely a consequence of the hatred Westman spoke of having for many groups. Jesus calls us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). Acts of hatred do not improve anything. Love can change the world.
Whatever the motive is for his shooting, I think most all people would agree his shooting the children was an evil act. There is less agreement on who is right and wrong in the conflicts we see between Israel and Hamas, Ukraine and Russia, and even in the polarization we see between groups in the United States.
Who determines right and wrong?
God does. It is his truth that will set us free from sin (see John 8:32). Oh, but I already said that many people have given up faith. Without faith, is there any criteria that is accepted by everyone for what is right and wrong? It seems not.
I am surprised that anyone thinks each person can determine for themselves their own truth and what is right and wrong. To find universal truth, we need to be able to look beyond ourselves. God is the one who have the ability to see the entirety of the way thinks really are. Jesus is the one who died for us. He is the one we can trust.
When I spoke above of hope that the end is near, I was referring to the downward spiral seen today. Have we hit bottom? I hope so. Can we change the course of where society is heading?
On our own, it would be difficult, perhaps even impossible. Yet, there is reason for hope. We don’t have to change it on our own. We have God to help us and nothing is impossible for God.
How many times has the world fallen? If you read the Old Testament, you will find numerous times of when the people fell from grace into sin. The Book of Judges alone shows several cycles of times of prosperity and defeat. The people of Israel prosper when they follow the Lord. Society collapses when people forget and/or abandon God.
We cannot save ourselves. We don’t deserve to be saved but there is a way to be saved.
The way is Jesus Christ who reveals to us the Truth so that we might have eternal life.
We cannot earn our salvation. It is beyond us in our humanity to earn the right to spend eternity with God. It is God’s free gift to grant us salvation. The gift is of infinite value but people deny the gift. I don’t know if there are many people who mean to deny the gift. People want to get into Heaven but they want it on their own terms. They presume God will forgive them.
Here they are not far from being right. God wants to forgive them. However, do they really want to be forgiven? One cannot be open to forgiveness as long as one thinks they have done nothing wrong.
Since we have denied God, God has every right to deny us (see 2 Timothy 2:11-13) but He chooses not to. God does not desire our destruction. Even in the midst of our sins, God desires our salvation. As Paul writes, “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God does not desire our destruction. God desires our salvation (see John 3:16-17). This is the reason for our hope.
What must we do to be saved?
When the Israelites sinned against the Lord, they needed to look at the seraph mounted on the pole with faith and they were saved from the seraph’s venom (see Numbers 21:4-9). To be saved we must look at the Son of Man lifted up and believe in him (see John 3:14-15). When is the Son of Man lifted up? Who is the Son of Man?
Jesus is the Son of Man and He is lifted up on the Cross and raised up in the Resurrection. Look at Jesus on the Cross. Know that He died for you. If you truly know and believe this, you will seek to follow his teaching and be saved.
Heaven is not Burger King. You cannot “have it your way” and be saved. If you want to be saved, you must deny yourself, take up your Cross, and follow Jesus (see Luke 9:23).
Peace,
Fr. Jeff