Reflection: We are Sandy Hook. We choose love.

Today is the 6th anniversary of the Newtown, Connecticut school tragedy, We remember the lives of twenty children and six educators and their families, friends and loved ones. 

After the massacre, there was a simple sign in Newtown: We are Sandy Hook. We choose love.

"Pray more. Love more." Saint Josemaria Escriva

Love and truth will meet. justice and peace will kiss.  Psalm 85:11

On the door of a local diner, a teddy bear with wings cradled a smaller bear and placed, alongside a message, declaring that the town's twenty six Angels are always here, never forgotten.

May the Angels lead you into Paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels greet you and like Lazarus, who once was a poor man, may you have eternal rest.

We pray for the Sandy Hook community, for the priests of Saint Rose of Lima Parish and for the ministers and rabbis who continue to guide and console all the brokenhearted. 

I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you."  Isaiah 41:13

Jesus is the Divine Healer. May Mother Mary wrap her protective mantle around the grieving families, console them and draw them into the Sacred Heart of Jesus where they will find healing, hope, comfort and rest.

The Lord is near the brokenhearted. Psalm 34:18

Through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, we pray for continued healing and hope for the community in Newtown. We implore the intercession of Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton CSC, the Rosary Priest, and we remember his powerful messages: "A family that prays together stays together" and "A world at prayer is a world at peace." May the love of Jesus and Mary be poured into their broken hearts.

A child shall lead them.  Isaiah 11:6 

In the midst of horror and suffering, God descends.

Mediation:
Place yourself in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you rest there with Him, imagine God the Father descending upon you and the Holy Spirit coming to you with His love and grace. You are in the Presence of the Holy Trinity and Mary is with you. Gaze at the Face of Jesus and bring your sorrows and sufferings to Him. Ask Jesus for the grace of healing and peace.  

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your Holy Will, which is Love and Mercy itself.  Closing prayer of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Today bring to Me the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children and immerse them in My Mercy. Sixth day of the Novena of Divine Mercy