Jesus comes to bring peace to a turbulent world

    In the days and weeks following the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn., I read as many of the news reports as I could as I tried to make sense of what had happened. Questions remain, many of which may never find an answer.
    Despite the major unknown of why someone would take such vengeance and wreak such violence upon innocent children, there also remains the question of how something so tragic could have happened.
    In a CNN column, LZ Granderson discusses what he terms the new America and his increasingly difficult role as a parent who is trying to keep his son safe. Since the Columbine shootings in 1999, there have been 31 more school shootings, and, as Granderson points out, there is nothing to suggest there will not be another 31 in the future.
    As news trickled in about Sandy Hook Elementary School, I saw friends of mine who were parents of small children post statuses on Facebook about wanting to go to their child’s school and bring them home early. Other statuses talked about hugging their child tightly as soon as they came home.
    Without children, I, too, could see the logic behind my friends’ actions. This tragedy has struck many hearts, as shown by the outpouring of generosity and love that has reached the small town. But in the face of such generosity and love, there remains terror and fear as we continue to wonder about the safety of this new America.
    As discussions around gun control continue and people defend both sides of the debate, we have to look deeper to see that guns are only the symptom of a culture that embraces and glorifies violence. Yes, I believe that new laws should be enforced, but I also believe that something much deeper is going on.
    How often do we see murder, robberies, rape and other forms of violence in the news? How often do we see movies, TV shows and video games profiting from violent themes? Do we turn away in disgust? Most likely not. We, as a culture, have been so desensitized to violence that it takes a horrific tragedy of senseless violence to make us realize just how unsafe the new America truly is.
    As the fireworks and excitement of ringing in the new year die down, we are left to imagine what 2013 will hold. As we imagine, I would like to recall the hope and the waiting that we were left with during Advent. For, with Advent, with the anticipation of Jesus, we have hope in this new America.
    As a friend reminded me, many people see only the joy and love that is “thematized” in the story of Jesus’ nativity. However, we must also remember the rage of Herod that is present in the nativity story. We, as Catholics, celebrated the Feast of the Holy Innocents on Dec. 28 in remembrance of the small children in Bethlehem who were put to death by Herod in his search to find the infant Jesus.
    In this way, we know that we are not alone. Our suffering, fear and tragedy – and the suffering, fear and tragedy of others in history and those to come – is the same suffering, fear and tragedy faced by the Holy Family and the innocent Christ-child. Jesus came into this world to become one of us, to face the same tragedies and realities that we face. And he came to bring peace in a world of violence, despair and suffering.
    Emmanuel means God with us. He continues to offer peace and hope in the new America, if we only turn to him.
    Within the darkness that comes with tragedy, as we continue to fear for the safety of ourselves and our children, as we continue to question the violence that has consumed our culture, we must find our strength in our faith and in our hope that Jesus will come again to make things right.
    Even though Advent imbued us with the hope for Jesus’ coming, we must live out that hope in all aspects of our lives. We must continue to hope for Jesus’ second coming and live our lives as he would want us to live them: in sacrifices made for the love of others. We saw these sacrifices in the heroic teachers and staff at Sandy Hook, as they cradled their students and did all they could to keep the children from harm.
    In 2013, let this be a year in which we allow the hope and joy of Advent and Christmas to shine throughout the year in our hearts and in our actions.
    Heather Bozant Witcher can be reached at hbozantwitcher@clarionherald.org.