November 21, 2025
Senseless tragedy looms everywhere around us, but we only seem to notice it when it hits close to home. On Monday of this week, a gunmen (student) sat in his high school, amongst his classmates, awaiting a bus transfer and in an instant changed a community forever when he opened fire shooting 5 kids, killing 3 of them; My family took immediate notice because this happened 15 miles from our home. A friend of ours called at 8:00 am to say that “the shooter may still be on the loose and is it possible he just takes a drive down route 44 to seek out our own children??” … There is only one way to describe all of my feelings at that very moment, “Scared as hell”. What started out as an unusually mild winter day in Cleveland turned into a day of not just sadness, but one of anger that our youth are once again robbed of their innocence way too soon. The bright sunshine that prevailed this day took me back to that moment in 2001 when the clearest day I had ever seen lead to one of the turning points in our history, September 11, 2001. I personally felt the same sense of loss Monday night as I did 10 ½ years ago when we gathered to attend a prayer vigil at our parish and spend time as a community for our sisters and brothers that were hurting as a result of what happened. It is in these times that we ask “Why?”, but why are we not asking that question all the time?
Yes, there are scriptures that can relate to and many theological aspects that deal with suffering, but most people don’t want to hear that, they want to know “WHY?!?!” …but in any tragedy, what does that really mean? The Confused cry out: “Why did it happen?” The Angry yell: “Why is God so un-loving?” The sad plea: “Why does evil win sometimes?” To me it becomes a question of “Why don’t we recognize the precious gift of every single day?” There is always a purpose that later is defined through heartache, but to ask “Why?” without definition is seeking an answer you will never find. There isn’t one “Why?” but there are many opportunities for HOPE in the real world that remind us that God did not create the tragedy, but He is with us through it all; just take one look at the outpouring of love to Chardon, OH and you will see it.
I find it eerily astonishing that this tragic event takes place during Lent. When a time of focus is generally about our own journey and what we need to give up or work on, we are ripped back into reality in manner that shows us how fragile the crosses are that others bear. Wherever we are on our path, there are other “travelers” alongside of us that need us to take RESPONSIBILITY to recognize them long enough to forget our own troubles and be part of their solution. If we do not allow our faith to be the center of seeking the TRUTH, then it is very certain we will only recognize struggles happening in front of our own eyes, hence missing the opportunity to lead by example to those individuals who may not be in our sight, but we are definitely in theirs. A person’s outward appearances of strength should not be mistaken for an inner peace of bliss and pure happiness.
It is not an easy battle…What is the example that we are leading our young people with? Look at the world of politics that is currently being fought out on television. This machine of wealth that has monopolized most of network television air time and will continue to gain more momentum is one of the most venomous collection of words on TV today. We are teaching our children that the only way to come out on top is to run a campaign that destroys the other person, accentuates all their negatives and talks very little about the good that you can do in the world.
The unthinkable act of teens being taken away from this Earth in a place where they are supposed to be safe should serve as a reminder that bad things do not always happen to someone else… don’t let this call to pay attention happen in vain. Family is about taking action and being a cohesive unit… to be family is much more than blood relation, it is those you worship with, cry with, laugh with and ask “why” with. Let’s not wait till another act of hurt occurs before we stand together and pray for peace to avert tragedy rather than to heal it. Each time we show our young people how to handle life’s hardest situations with our examples we are providing them with what they need to see that we actually believe what we say. Sometimes I don’t want to ask “Why?” to the question for what happened, I seriously ponder “why it takes us so long to stand so strongly together?”
In a planned “God- incidence”, I will be speaking at St. Mary’s parish in Chardon this coming weekend; it is the parish of the first victim who passed, Daniel Parmertor. This talk has been planned for 7 months, but the message originally scheduled for 110 of their youth will now be open to many more who seek comfort. My intended topic will be different, the audience will be larger, but I believe God’s plan to place me there in a time of need will be the same. One thing is guaranteed; I am sure they will inspire me more than I inspire them.
Posted by Greg Wasinski
