Bishop James D. Conley, auxiliary bishop of Denver, delivered the following invocation at a prayer vigil July 22, 2012 for the victims and their families of the tragic shootings at Century Aurora 16 movie theater July 20. The vigil was held at the Aurora Municipal Center.
Governor Hickenlooper, Mayor Hogan, members of the City Council, esteemed clergymen and women, my dear brothers and sisters,
Tonight we come together to pray and to be with one another. Some of us are survivors, family members, or friends to those who suffered through the senseless and evil act of violence which took place early Friday morning. All of us in this local community were affected by what happened here on Friday – and we will never be the same.
This senseless and evil act of violence has left many of us wondering "how" and "why" this could have happened. These questions arise when the everyday securities and certainties of life - the trust we carry in our fellow human beings, that we can safely go to work each day, or to school, or to the movies, are shaken. It's natural for us to wonder why does this kind of suffering happen and what does it really mean?
We who gather tonight have come to seek answers. Not the answers that the commentators on television might provide, but answers to the real questions that leave us feeling insecure and fearful.
Brothers and sisters; let us place our questions, our fears, and our uncertainties tonight in the hands of our loving and merciful God. Let us trust God with our doubts and let us turn to him with our fears.
Let us ask him for the hope we need to see in the midst of this darkness, a new day dawning here in our community of Aurora.
In the wake of a tragedy like this, the conversation often turns to moving on - to getting back to our daily lives. But the Gospel speaks comforting words in this time of sorrow and tells us very clearly: "blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." I would like to point out the banner being held up by people in the very back which reads: “Angels walk with those who grieve.” I really think this is true. Thank you!
Let us mourn for those who have perished. Let us grieve with their loved ones who mourn their loss. Let us acknowledge the real evil which has wounded our community. In our mourning, Our Lord, who is the great comforter, is truly present to us. But we do not grieve like those who have no hope, my brothers and sisters. We grieve with the knowledge that neither death nor life can separate us from the love of God. His abundant love is our consolation.
When we do return to our lives, let us see in this tragedy a reminder that our lives are fleeting and they are precious in God's sight. Our lives are a gift from God - a grace - and they are given to us to glorify God, both in the short time we have here on this earth and for ever in the eternity of heaven. Let us glorify God in our love for him. Let us glorify God in our love for one another. Let us glorify God by responding to all violence with peace and to all evil with love.
And now, let us pray:
Loving and merciful God, we praise you and we adore you for your great mercy. You are truth, goodness, and beauty. You are the source of all that is good and all that is holy. You hate what is evil.
You respond to evil, O Lord, with love. In your boundless love, you have conquered sin and death. Your victory over death is our hope – for we know that we do not live in a lasting city.
We entrust our beloved deceased to your love and mercy. We entrust our community to your comfort and peace. We entrust our fear, our doubt, our uncertainty, to your providential care, O Lord. Be present to us. Help us to love as you love and help us to build a community of peace.
We pray for the victims of this terrible crime, for the survivors, and for their families. We pray for their friends and neighbors who loved them. We pray for the conversion of the perpetrator of this terrible crime. And we pray for our city – for healing and for strength to go forward.
You are our hope, Lord. We look to your Resurrection as a sure sign that death does not defeat us – that death is not the end. Instead, we pray that each of us may join in the victory of your Resurrection.
We ask this as we ask all things through Jesus Christ Our Lord,
Amen.
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