To begin, I’d like to offer condolences and prayers to the family of Charlie Kirk. The silence after the report of the shooting made it clear someone was trying to locate the family to make “the call.” Anyone who has gotten the call that a young person has suddenly died knows the dread, the anguish of those moments. The phrase from the Irish song “The Streets of New York” comes to mind when the singer makes the call to his old man. “I could tell he could hardly stand up in his shoes.”
Every murder has many victims. Pray the Kirk family can deal with it as Christians embracing the cross God has placed on their shoulders.
People think murder is rare, but the murder of hatred in our hearts is far from rare. Sooner or later, the actions of the soul give birth to violence in the world. As an advocate for the life of the pre-born child, Charlie Kirk knew the darkness he was facing. His bravery in continually entering the arena with lions willing to devour him was a heroic virtue.
Almost immediately after hearing the news of Charlie’s death, I headed off to a memorial Mass for three friends who drowned in a recent tragedy. It is not the first time in my life that death struck those who tried and failed to rescue another and laid down their life for their friend. Charlie Kirk, likewise, felt called to rescue the preborn headed to destruction. It was not a risk-free choice.
In my lifetime, the news of many assassinations and failed attempts has struck home: Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, George Wallace, Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, and President Donald Trump. Closer to home, my friend’s college roommate became a congressman and, after his defeat, was gunned down in his office. Being in public life is dangerous. The hate can be strong. This is especially strong when the dogs of war and assassination are unleashed, as they are now around the world in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
C.S. Lewis’s masterpiece, “The Screwtape Letters,” makes the convincing case that Screwtape, a demon, doesn’t care which side of a war someone is on, as long as all sides hate each other. It is a win-win. We are living in times when anger, hate, and evil hang in the air like wildfire smoke enveloping a city.
Let’s hope justice is done swiftly in this case. A few months ago, I attended the funeral of an old family friend. He and my father had been schoolmates. Our families had grown up together. Many years ago, he and his wife got the call. One of their daughters had been stabbed again, again, and again. Our poor friend, so sweet and caring, was dead.
The killer was caught, the trial held, the conviction for premeditated murder rendered — and then overturned. The town was too small; everybody knew too much about everyone; a new venue was ordered. A jury of your peers is no longer good enough. The family had to suffer sitting through the entire trial and its forensic nightmare again. The inevitable conviction was again rendered.
Related: Charlie Kirk, Single Combat Warrior, Practiced Politics the Right Way
Justice was done. The killer is in prison. But so was mercy. Perhaps through the grace and strength gained from daily Mass attendance and prayer, the parents came to understand Christ’s command: “Forgive seventy times seven.” Mercy is the only rational response to Screwtape’s dream that all hate all. After the shock had settled in, this heroic family forgave the killer.
Justice and mercy are not incompatible, just hard, even impossible, without God’s grace. We cannot rewind the tape on days of horror like this. But we can, by living faith, hope, and charity, look to a future place where every tear is wiped away. Please keep the Kirk family, his wife Erika, and their two small children in your prayers during this challenging time.
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