In an act of pure and unrestrained evil, a transgender-identified male murdered two children, ages eight and ten, and injured 18 more people in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday.
The victims were students and parishioners of Annunciation Catholic school and church; they were attending the first all-school Mass of the fall term.
Just hours after the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey defended the “transgender community” and chose to deride the value of prayer.
“Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity,” Mayor Frey said in a press conference.
He dismissed praying for the victims, the church and the surrounding community as useless. “Don’t just say, ‘This is about thoughts and prayers right now.’ These kids were literally praying,” Frey said.
The mayor wasn’t the only one to quickly wave a dismissive hand at the prayers of faithful Christians uplifting the Minneapolis community.
“Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayer does not end school shootings. Prayers do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers,” MSNBC host and former press secretary Jen Psaki wrote on X.
“These children were literally praying when they got shot at,” echoed California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
These bizarre, deeply insensitive and, frankly, ignorant attacks on prayer have prompted a much-needed response from many faith leaders proclaiming the value of prayer.
Franklin Graham, directing his comments directly to Mayor Frey, replied,
Your words do not change or diminish the power or important of prayer. … Prayer is our opportunity to communicate directly with the God of Heaven and take our petitions to Him.
Minnesota Bishop Robert Barron criticized the mayor’s comments as “completely asinine.”
“Catholics don’t think that prayer magically protects them from all suffering,” the bishop said. “After all, Jesus prayed fervently from the cross on which he was dying.”
Bishop Barron added,
Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God, which strikes me as altogether appropriate precisely at times of great pain.
And prayer by no means stands in contrast to decisive moral action. … This is not an either/or proposition.
While the bishop acknowledged the shooting raises important questions about the problem of evil, he nonetheless maintains that Christianity answers the problem of evil in a profound way – the person of Jesus Christ:
In Jesus, God journeyed all the way to the bottom of our suffering, accepting, as St. Paul said, “even death, death on a cross.” We cannot always understand why God permits evil, but we know for sure that He accompanies us in our suffering.
Vice President JD Vance replied directly to Jen Psaki’s assertion on X, writing:
Christians don’t pray because it eliminates the need for other kinds of action. Nor do we pray to simply make ourselves feel better.
We pray because it’s how we connect and speak with our Lord, who loves us deeply. It’s how we conform our will to His will. And through prayer, God can and does work miracles – even if he doesn’t always do so, for reasons unknown to us.
We pray to bless the God who is good, who knows our needs, sees our sorrows and takes on our sufferings (Matthew 8:17).
We pray to petition God for his action, to forgive us our sins, to protect the innocent and punish those who do evil. We ask Him to give us our “daily bread,” to bring good out of evil and to grant His faithful followers everlasting life (Matthew 6:11).
We pray to intercede for others, asking God to comfort those who mourn and lost loved ones just as we also know the Holy Spirit “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26, ESV, emphasis added).
We pray in thanksgiving, in gratitude to God who has taken on human flesh and knows what it’s like to suffer and experience loss (John 11:35). We thank God for being Someone who can “sympathize with our weakness” (Hebrews 4:15).
And we pray to praise the God who, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, has taken upon the sins of the world and offers new life to those who believe in Him (John 3:16).
Never discount the value of “thoughts and prayers.” It is altogether good and appropriate that Christians pray in response to instances of horrific evil and suffering, even if the world can’t understand.
By prayer, we place our hope and trust in God who “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
If you’re struggling and need someone to talk with and pray for you, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459) weekdays from 6 AM – 8 PM MT.
You can also request a conversation with Focus on the Family’s Counseling Department by calling 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time) or completing our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
Related articles and resources:
Counseling Consultation & Referrals
Talking to Kids about Mass School Shootings
Prayer and the Difference It Makes
An Essential Guide to Effective Prayer for Family
Teaching Kids the Meaning of Prayer
Praying to Protect the Heart of Your Son
The Power of Prayer in Your Daughter’s Life
Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering
C.S. Lewis and Answers to the Problem of Pain
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