Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut.
December 14, 2012.
For the children who died, Jesus have mercy.
For the teachers and staff who died, Jesus have mercy.
For the parents in their grief, Jesus have mercy.
For the families who have endured loss, Jesus have mercy.
For the children who witnessed this horror, Jesus have mercy.
Jesus have mercy, and protect the sanctuaries of the child from all this monstrous violence.
Protect the classroom, and every learning environment.
Protect the home, and the families who build the home.
Protect that inner, sacred space of the child's emerging awareness.
Protect children in every place where they are vulnerable and defenseless. Grant that they might find love, and be nurtured, and supported in every step of their growth.
Protect every child, from the dawn, in that intimate space beneath the heart of his or her mother.
Protect the mother and the child, and the sanctity and inviolability of their relationship, which is always a gift from God.
Give us the strength to love and support the lives of every mother and child, from the beginning, in whatever crises they may face.
Protect the children, from the beginning, from their first moment through all the moments of their epiphany, their opening up to reality, their expression of themselves as persons, created uniquely in the image of God.
Jesus have mercy on us.
Give us hearts that cherish Your beauty reflected in every child.
Give us reverence and humility in our care for the children entrusted to us.
Help us to remember that every child belongs to You.
From whence comes this unearthly, unspeakable violence that invades the human soul, and drives it to killing? So much killing.
So much blood.
Jesus, have mercy on us all. Have mercy on the whole world.
