5/17/2016
In December, I spoke at an Interfaith Prayer Vigil in Burlington called, “A Moral Call: People of faith confronting the tragedy of gun violence.” I asked the question, “how do we become our best self as a country in the midst of this current epidemic of gun violence?”
I believe the answer begins by setting in motion a “spiral of peace” in our hearts and in our homes, and it starts now as we actively pursue all efforts to be instruments of God’s peace. It moves outward from there, circling family, neighbors, and our world community in compassion, education, awareness, and action, so that one day the vision offered by the prophet Isaiah when speaking about a restored Jerusalem might actually come to pass in our world; “Violence shall no more be heard in your land, wasting nor destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”
15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed in Chicago in 2013. Hadiya’s friends honor her every year on her birthday (June 2) by wearing orange, the color hunters wear to keep themselves safe. Wear Orange was created to make it easier for people to show their support for common sense solutions that will save lives. If you believe there’s more we can do to help end gun violence, I invite you to join me and my colleagues in Bishops United Against Gun Violence on June 2 and #WearOrange.