marymount prayer service

Marymount Conducts Prayer Service for Va. Tech Victims

By Henrietta Gomes
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 4/19/07) marymount

The campus of Marymount University in Arlington was eerily quiet last Tuesday as students tried to comprehend the events of the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Monday which left the nation in a state of shock and horror.
“God is with us in the midst of every trial we face,” Father Jack Peterson, who serves as the university chaplain and director of campus ministry, told Marymount students and faculty who gathered for an interfaith prayer service on campus.
The tragic event on April 16 left 33 people dead including the lone gunman, a 23 year-old student from South Korea, and many wounded.
“[God] doesn’t love us from a distance, but by our side,” Father Peterson told the students and faculty who came to grieve and pray for the students and families who have been affected directly.
“We have witnessed the heights of human sinfulness,” the priest said. However, he reminded participants that God “knows the depths of human suffering having been betrayed and killed Himself.” The priest said, “God destroyed sin and death and restored life.”
During his remarks at the service, Dr. James Bundschuh, university president told the students, “If there is any feeling of warmth that can come out of such a tragedy it is the warmth that happens when we can pray together.”
The student government association at Marymount created “Walls of Remembrance,” large posters that students and faculty have been signing with messages of hope and condolence. The posters will later be taken to Blacksburg and presented to the Virginia Tech community.
As the story continued to unfold, students united to find comfort and solace. “We’re just trying to take stock of what happened yesterday,” said Kellen MacBeth, a sophomore at Marymount after the service. MacBeth, a native of Rochester, N.Y., said he could not imagine sitting in a classroom and being shot at. “This is becoming more personal to us,” he said, “and we’re looking at ways to offer sympathy and support. We want to do something to help ease their pain.”
The prayer service was one of many services and vigils held around the diocese for the students and faculty at Virginia Tech. The university kept the chapel open all night on Monday and Tuesday for students to have the opportunity to pray. Counselors were also available on campus for students.
“My heart is bleeding for the parents,” said Father Peterson. Regarding the shooting spree, the priest said, “I am saddened that someone would resort to this.”
Despite any temptation, Father Peterson reminded those gathered at the service to “avoid responding with hatred and vengeance, but be mindful of those in our lives who suffer.”
The most important thing, said Laurie Knutowicz, one of the campus ministers at the school, “is to be present to the students in their pain and their fears and to help them know God’s love during this difficult time.”
Other local universities responded immediately early in the week. A Monday Mass at Christendom College in Front Royal was offered for the intentions of the shooting victims.
The Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) at George Mason University in Fairfax will gather with the university community and other campus ministries for an ecumenical prayer service on Wednesday evening. Thursday’s daily Mass at the St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel will also be specifically offered for victims and their family members.

Henrietta Gomes can be reached at hgomes@catholicherald.com.