I have been on vacation and catching up with things. Plus, I try to wait before responding to current events. With that in mind, I will continue to pray for those affected by the recent violence in Buffalo and Uvalde.

In terms of Buffalo, it seems that it was racially motivated which adds to the tragedy of senseless killing. We at the Art of Living Well and our friends and collaborators have always worked to educate and form our audience and parishioners on the evil of racism and will continue to do so. The nature of concupiscence means that humanity will never be fully healed until the second coming of Christ, so we work consistently and patiently knowing that God has a plan.

With Uvalde, it is particularly painful when children are the targets of violence because it reveals a malevolence that violates the very core of what it means to be human. A correctly ordered person should have a particular care for the unborn and the young, and violence against someone who is so entirely without fault is an evil that can rob us of our peace.

In the face of such evil, we should recognize that Jesus Christ confronts the depths of such depravity and conquers it by his cross and resurrection.

As with all tragedies which are visited upon human society, there is discussion about how to improve our society and what can be done to prevent such injustices and evils from occurring again. I have nothing to offer in the way of specific laws or policies because I have not taken the time to study our current policies and I believe my role as a shepherd of souls is not to create specific civil policies. Rather, I seem my role as to teach unchanging truths which can guide public officials, some of whom are parishioners.

I do offer a warning when we engage in the public square. The nature of humanity and human society is that our condition is that of a fallen human nature that is profoundly wounded by original sin. Sound teaching on divine providence helps us to understand that we cannot create a perfect society and oftentimes much evil is done when people promote a false Utopianism. Much evil is done when people attempt to sacrifice the good for the sake of the perfect and in so doing they fail to attain the perfect and lose the good.

– Father Ian Van Heusen