Violent Death

This meditation was given at the funeral service of a thirty-seven-year-old woman who was shot by her estranged husband and before her death, lay in the intensive care unit of the hospital for nearly seven months - most of the time in a coma.

It is good to see this large crowd here. It shows your support for the family of __________ . Yet most of you, even as you reach out in support, are echoing the question of St. Paul in some form. Paul had great insight and sensitivity. He poses the question for us, "What then shall we say to this?" And we are asking with Paul: Why? What then shall we say?

Certainly none of us has all the answers. But of some things we can be sure. During the last seven months we have participated in and been witness to two things: the power of sin and evil …