Doubt and Suffering, Faith and Hope

DOUBT AND SUFFERING

RED LAKE, Minn. (AP)— With the bang of a drum and a high-pitched wail, the first funerals began Saturday for victims of the shootings on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in which 10 people died.

A lone man's sad cry gave way to songs and more drumming from a circle of a dozen men and soon hundreds of people who had gathered in the community center began filing past a pair of open caskets.

Daryl Lussier, 58, a tribal police officer, and his longtime companion Michelle Sigana, 31, were the first victims in Monday's attack by his grandson, Jeff Weise, 16.

More than 100 police officers attended the service for Lussier and Sigana, along with Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sen. Norm Coleman. Every seat in the community center — bleachers, cafeteria tables, freestanding chairs — was taken.

After killing the pair in their home on the northern Minnesota reservation, Weise went to Red Lake High School, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before shooting himself.

A third funeral, for 15-year-old Chase Lussier, was also planned Saturday at St. Mary's Catholic Church.
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CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. (AP)— Jessica Lunsford liked to ride her bike. She liked to practice cheerleading, too.

The slain third-grader was remembered by her family at a private gathering Friday. A public memorial service was scheduled for Saturday.

"We're going to make it," Jessica's grandfather, Archie Lunsford, told the Orlando Sentinel for its Saturday editions. "It's been tough, but we want to finish it up by going to the memorial."

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)— Four U.S. soldiers died when their vehicle struck a land mine in central Afghanistan on Saturday, the military said. It was unclear whether the mine was freshly laid or a leftover from the country's long wars.

The soldiers were among a group of American and Afghan officials examining a potential site for a shooting range in Logar Province, south of Kabul, when one of their three vehicles hit the mine, spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore said.

"Four U.S. soldiers were killed today when their vehicle struck a mine," Moore said. "They're looking into whether it was an old mine that might have shifted" or if the vehicle had inadvertently wandered off known safe routes, she said.

The bodies of the victims, none of whom was identified, were airlifted to the main U.S. base at Bagram, Moore said. No one else was reported hurt.

The deaths bring to 122 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in and around Afghanistan since American forces attacked the Taliban for harboring Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)— The man accused of snatching a 10-year-old girl from her Cedar Rapids home was arraigned Saturday on one count of child stealing, police said.

Roger P. Bentley, a registered sex offender from Brandon, was taken into custody Friday in Johnson County in connection with the abduction Thursday of Jetseta Marrie Gage, whose disappearance set off a statewide Amber Alert.

Investigators discovered the body of a young girl Friday at an abandoned mobile home in a rural area near the small town of Kalona, about 45 miles south of the girl's home. But police are waiting on autopsy results to confirm if the body is that of the missing girl.
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PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - After another round of devastating losses in the courts, Terri Schiavo's parents kept watch over their dying daughter Saturday as their attorneys acknowledged the tenacious fight to reconnect the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube was nearing an end.

Attorneys for Bob and Mary Schindler decided not to file another motion with a federal appeals court, essentially ending their effort to persuade federal judges to intervene - something allowed by an extraordinary law passed by Congress.

But at least three more appeals loomed by the Schindlers and Gov. Jeb Bush. A family spokesman said Schindler attorney David Gibbs III would likely appeal an unfavorable ruling Saturday with a last-ditch plea to the Florida Supreme Court to get the feeding tube reinserted before it's too late.
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FAITH AND HOPE

“It is finished.” (John 19:30)

Not for us!

Jesus has done His part. Jesus has shown us how serious God is about His love for us. God, in the person of Jesus, has not been spared the depths of human suffering. And, in the Cross, we have been given the most powerful sign of hope. For if God, Jesus, accepted the Cross and through the Cross conquered death, then we will also.

However, it is not finished for us. As we live out our days here on earth, suffering is part of our walk; suffering surrounds us. We look to the Cross; we look to Jesus’ acceptance of the Cross; His magnanimity while bearing the Cross. Yes, He asked to have “this cup” pass by, but when He didn’t He faced it with courage, with compassion for those who suffered with Him, and with forgiveness. He brought others along with Him as He went to the Cross.

We walk as a people full of hope, not despair or cynicism or bitterness. We know in the depths of our soul that our destiny is one of fullness of life and joy and love. We keep our heads up, not down. We bring others with us as we walk our Christian faith.

God Bless.

Fr. Bob