My heart is beyond broken. For a sleepy town not unlike so many others in CT, particularly my own. Newtown, CT is a small town with, like my own town 50 miles away, a strong sense of community, a nearly bucolic setting of woodlands and small neighborhoods. The kind of place that looks so peaceful nothing bad could ever happen there.
Evil came to Newtown, CT yesterday and it will take a very long time for us to recover; the families and survivors may never recover. They will find a new-normal to live in but everything they knew before yesterday is – gone.
The gentle lights of 20 children were turned off before their families really got to know who they would be. The lights of 6 adults were also turned off, stealing from their own children the leadership and guidance they should have as they grow up.
My heart is so heavy it feels like a lead weight in my chest. And I know that millions of others feel the same way.
Tonite The Oracle and I will be lighting the Advent Wreath at Mass. We will be dedicating those lights of hope and promise to the victims of the shooting. It is a small thing but it will be a real thing; over 300 people will say the same prayers at the same time as we make that dedication. In fact I suspect that many church services all over the world this weekend will be said for the victims.
Spare a moment of silence for the victims and their families. If you can please send a card to the school:
Sandy Hook Elementary School
12 Dickenson Drive
Sandy Hook, CT 06482
A card and the thoughts expressed can heal a heart even if for a moment. And the community of Newtown, CT can use all the healing it can get right now.
The Lexicans 
There are no words for this. Only sorrow.
I have gotten old enough – and lived long enough – to have my share of ugliness in my life and this I can tell you – that Evil is not an abstract concept but something very real that inhabits some people – whether they are born evil or it comes to reside within them I cannot say.
..and for every death like this I have learned – like a pebble tossed into a still pond – it affects a huge circle of people around each victim – from the immediate family to the extended family…friends – easily 100 people directly affected.
So this is almost 3,000 people.