My dear sisters and brothers, grace and peace to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Like many of you, I have been discouraged and shaken by the recent senseless shootings that have jolted many across our nation. These include the shock of two young students, Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski, at Annunciation Catholic Elementary School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who were martyred at a school Mass in their home parish. In addition, Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota state representative, and John Hoffman, a Minnesota state senator, lost their lives. Each of these acts is heinous and tragic. There are many victims of violence across our nation, in our cities, and in unsettled areas of our world like Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, and other areas that don't tend to make our newsfeeds.

Similarly, the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk has marshaled wide public reaction and seems to have awakened the sleeping soul of our nation and world. He had vigorously argued for dialogue about many of the pressing issues of our day facing our nation, especially on college campuses. He preferred to meet individuals face to face and listen to alternative points of view, testing his own hypotheses for the issues of our day. For him, it brought the issues into clearer and sharper focus. Above all, he was a Christian who lived for Christ and was searching for truth. More importantly, he knew that the truth was not found in a proposition, but in a person, Jesus Christ, about Whom he gave eloquent witness about his life of freedom. He also concluded that dialogue was essential to reaching a broader consensus. It was a far superior way, he argued, to resolve conflicts in the civil sphere than resorting to violence. When dialogue stops, then violence commences, he believed. Tragically, as a young adult, he died doing what he believed in on a college campus in Utah last week as an ardent proponent of dialogue that put him at risk.

As a Christian, I detest any sort of violence whatsoever. I believe the dignity of every human being as they strive to resolve the questions and restlessness in their souls, finding purpose and meaning in their lives.

There is much analysis on Charlie's impact on society in legacy and digital media, attempting to contextualize his life. In fact, it has galvanized a nation into some serious introspection and soul searching. It will likely become one of the more defining moments in our national discourse. It suggests something more is going on here, and that's why I share the following message to you during these days.

One way of looking at what is happening is to look at precisely at what moves us into doing something about what we believe in. In other words, how do we live purposeful lives grounded in Christ? And how do we become Christian protagonists in the world today? This is the question I've been asking myself - how to become a true protagonist of what I believe? To whom do we belong? Ourselves? Another? Our party? Our faith? Let me state clearly, I belong to Christ, Who informs me about who I am and how I should live my life, and the kinds of relationships I should have.

Similarly, I believe that everyone has something - a belief they hold dear, that they cling to and will lay down their life for, no matter what.

These are similar sentiments attributed to St. Joan of Arc and the play entitled Joan of Lorraine, who explains in Act Three:

“Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing: One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it is gone. But to surrender what you are, and live without belief – that’s more terrible than dying - more terrible than dying young.”

We believe in Christ as the center of our lives and all of history. We believe in and live for Christ. We die for Christ. The Apostles did so and, all except John, were martyred for their belief in Christ and how they lived as vibrant witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus. Along with St. Peter, 27 of the first 31 popes were martyred for their beliefs and their witness to the living Christ in their lives. Over the past 2,000 years, Christians have been maligned, misunderstood, and martyred. Even Father Coyle, the beloved pastor of St. Paul's Church here in downtown Birmingham, was martyred back in 1921 as he faithfully fulfilled his priestly duties. His murder shook our city. Repercussions can still be felt today, and his untimely death enabled us to move the horizon of Christian life to embrace solidarity and the common good, rejecting hate and respecting the dignity of all. Yet, we soldier on, knowing that what we have seen in Christ, we cannot unsee; what we have heard from Christ, we cannot unhear. We believe in dialogue, conversation, to express our differences and try with all our might, relying on the grace of God to achieve common ground in which we can all agree, to build a society that is just and free where truth and love will prevail - a place where we are not judged by our failures, but, by God's grace active in us, a place to conform our hearts and minds more and more to Christ.

Today, our task is to be the people we say we are, to love each other, to see and honor in each other a spark of the divine, to dialogue with each other to resolve differences and to grow into a community where all are welcomed because we share a common humanity as sons and daughters of God. It is our task as Christians to overcome evil by doing good! As we pray for those who have been martyred - whose names we know and those whose names we do not - we pray that Christ will be glorified by how we respond to these events by doing what is good and just so we can become Christ’s witnesses of hope every single day! For me, that is what matters most of all. God bless you all.

To watch the video, please visit bhmdiocese.org.