In a recent piece for the Huffington Post, Mathew N. Schmalz, associate professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, argues that prayer matters in the aftermath of the Orlando massacre.
Schmalz says when he was surveying Twitter and Facebook on Sunday, he saw many reactions such as, “We don’t need your thoughts or your prayers, we need your actions.”
He writes that the massacre “was a conscious act of evil—a crime, not a tragedy” and that “it was not random.” Acknowledging that this was an attack on the LGBTQ community, Schmalz writes, “prayer is one way to open ourselves to those who are so marginalized that they often do not come into our field of vision, let alone our hearts. Praying for the victims and their families, means first and foremost recognizing their dignity as human beings and the richness of their lives.”
An expert on the papacy, Schmalz writes, when Pope Francis inaugurated the Holy Year of Mercy (December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016) he prayed, “may it open us to even more fervent dialogue so that we might know and understand one another better; may it eliminate every form of closed-mindedness and disrespect, and drive out every form of violence and discrimination.”
Schmalz recognizes prayer may not be “the answer” to the question of violence, “especially against those who are marginalized,” he continues, “but prayer can lead to the beginning of a response to crimes like the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.”
This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Cristal Steuer.
Related coverage:
AmericanCatholic.org, June 22: 'Catholic response to Orlando: Pray, act, show solidarity'
