Bishop David O'Connell, Diocese of Trenton, Issues Statement on the Uvalde, Texas, School Shooting

Lifting up in prayer the souls of the children and teachers killed Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and united in grief with their parents and families, the words of St. Matthew’s Gospel account of the massacre of the holy innocents in Bethlehem come to my mind:

" A voice was heard in Rama, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel was weeping for her children and she would not be consoled, since they were no more (Matthew 2:18; Jeremiah 3:15).”

We have promised “thoughts and prayers” so often in recent years in the face of similar tragedies and loss of innocent life. How many times can our hearts break? Please, dear God, help us do whatever is needed, whatever it takes, to end this kind of horror in our communities. We believe “Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).”