A Reflection on the Shootings at Northern Illinois University

The Gospel reading for this day in Lent contains part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount from Matthew. In the text for today’s liturgy, Jesus unmasks the violence that often lurks within us. Not only is murder wrong, harboring anger against our brothers and sisters, using abusive language toward others, and holding others in contempt are signals that we have succumbed to a violent frame of mind.  In the face of this human (but really inhuman) tendency within all of us, Jesus counsels the creative work of reconciliation: “If you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother [or sister] has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23).

What a challenging reading to listen to the morning after the terrible and tragic shootings at Northern Illinois University. Here in Chicago, this violent episode comes on the heels of the senseless killing of five women at a Lane Bryant store by an armed robber. The students who were killed or wounded at NIU had simply gone to their geology class. The women at the store had simply gone shopping on a Saturday morning. Coupled with the massacre at Virginia Tech and the recent killing of City Council members near Saint Louis, these incidents may cause us to feel that our society has gone crazy. I am sure that many college students are wondering if it is safe to go to class on any college campus.

At this moment, we do not know what compelled the former successful graduate student in sociology to snap and take the lives of the NIU students, as well as his own life. There have been some reports that he had stopped taking medication which had been prescribed for him, but that may only be speculation. What we do know is that all of us need to address two lethal forces in our society: isolation and violence.

It seems that often the people who perpetrate such horrific crimes are isolated individuals. This was clearly the case with the young man responsible for the killings at Virginia Tech last year. He was imprisoned in loneliness, alienation and fear. Recent studies of young adults show that many men and women in their twenties feel quite alone in the world. They find themselves at a stage in their lives when they are making critical decisions about career, family, and other relationships. And they sometimes experience a lack of good mentoring and personal support. All of us need to make the effort to bring into the circle of community and friendship those who may be on the margins of our world.  As Christians, we know that this is exactly what Jesus did for many of the marginalized of his own day like the lepers and the tax collectors. It may be the student down the hall in the college dorm who is painfully shy and perhaps unpopular because of it. Or the coworker who has been labeled as the resident “nerd.” Or the person who is on medication for mental illness and feels stigmatized because of it. And so on. We know who they are. As followers of Christ we need to leave our gift at the altar and invite those on the outside into the circle of community and friendship. We are called to reach out generously to those who are struggling and in need of our support. In a society that is fragmented in many ways, we are summoned to search for ways to strengthen the bonds of community in our parishes, schools, neighborhoods and among friends.

We also need to take a courageous stand against violence. There are forces in our society that suggest that the answer to incidents like NIU, Virginia Tech and others is for everyone to own a gun. Make firearms available to everyone and people will be afraid to commit such atrocities. But our streets are already filled with guns. I live on the Southside of Chicago and there are enough guns within a few square miles to equip a small army. We must have the courage to work to get these guns off the streets – indeed to make it difficult to own a gun without a very legitimate reason.

I believe that we are also called to examine the role that violence plays in our own lives. The words of Jesus in today’s gospel are challenging because they reach beneath overt actions of violence to make us examine our attitudes, language and ways of relating to others. Have you noticed lately the frequent television advertisements for new video games that are replete with violence? There is usually the warning that these games are reserved for “mature” audiences. Is it really very “mature” to revel in video games that feature random killing? This is just one example of the way in which violence can infiltrate our lives and our psyches, sometimes before we even realize it.  It is also present in the ways in which we talk about other people when we disdain or demean them. Jesus was right: murder comes from something deeper. It emerges from attitudes and ways of speaking and relating that reflect an atmosphere of violence that has settled within us.

May those who lost their lives at NIU yesterday rest in the peace of God’s faithful, eternal love. And may the injured experience Christ’s healing touch. May we – all of us – be given the grace to reach out to support those who are struggling, especially those who feel isolated and alienated. And may God’s grace enlighten us so that we may recognize the subtle forms of violence in our own lives and reject them in favor of reconciliation and life.

By Robin Ryan, CP

Prayer offered by JoEllen Windau:

Gracious God,

We celebrate the gifts and the contributions of the students and all of those who have died in the recent tragic events.  May we remember their lives not as something lost, but as witnesses to the goodness of the world.

We remember those who witnessed or were harmed in the shootings.  May we have the strength to journey with them as they work through their pain and suffering.

We are reminded of our responsibility to greet each person with dignity.  May we be a constant presence to all those who are in need of our love and support.

We are hopeful for the future.  May we recognize the goals and dreams of all people and strive to make our communities a safe place so those dreams might come true.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.