"Thoughts and Prayers Don't Work?"

We do not just offer “thoughts and prayers”

In the wake of two more shootings in our country, we will again see atheists come forward mocking Catholics for offering prayers for the victims and their families. We will be told some version of “we don’t need your prayers, we need action”

It is important here to note that Catholicism doesn’t just offer #ThoughtsAndPrayers in the wake of tragedies like #ElPaso and #Dayton


Just to name a few things Catholicism offers:

1) The foundational teaching that each person is created in the image and likeness of God, a notion that has helped create and shape the entire system of law in our country.


2) Catholicism offers a blunt and crystal clear exposition on the sheer evil of terrorism


3) Catholicism offers a robust teaching on the virtue of protecting innocent lives, even through the use of force.


4) Catholicism offers a King who can help give meaning to the otherwise completely disorienting experience of suffering who can handle our protests about the pain in our lives, and this King answers our cries for meaning by telling us, with great love, from the Cross: “I suffered too. I am with you.”


5) Catholicism offers teachings on both the right of a nation to monitor and regulate their borders while also talking about helping the alien in our midst


6) Catholicism offers a world view that says we are to stand in solidarity with one another and care for each other, even laying down our very lives for one another if need be.


“Blessed are the peacemakers”