'We're Sad'

Arkansas school shootings a topic at Masses for 5,000 high school seniors

By VINCENT F. IOSUE

With the nation in shock last week over the Arkansas school massacre, Cardinal O'Connor told some 5,000 Catholic high school seniors in St. Patrick's Cathedral to keep their faith in God and remember that he offers hope in the face of tragedy.

The cardinal also spoke of a March 24 auto accident that seriously injured four students of St. Peter's Girls High School on Staten Island, one of whom later died.

Through such tragedies as the Arkansas shootings, he said, "God gives us the opportunity for hope."

"God uses things as a lesson for us, telling us not to be foolish, not to be stupid--and to love one another," he told the students.

The cardinal made his comments at the two annual Masses for graduating seniors from the 55 Catholic high schools in the archdiocese on March 25 and 26.

One of the week's sad events--the Staten Island car crash--directly affected the March 25 Mass. One of the critically injured girls is the sister of a St. Peter's senior who was scheduled to be a lector. Kara O'Connor, the lector, canceled her appearance at the cathedral in order to be at the hospital bedside of her sister, Erin.

Naming the four girls: Colleen Gold, Jenna Dovner, Ravin Mandato and Erin O'Connor, the cardinal asked the students to pray for them. (Colleen Gold died March 28 at Sisters of Charity Medical Center, St. Vincent's Campus, on Staten Island.)

Noting that the seniors Masses are usually happy events for him, the cardinal said that the two incidents had cast a cloud over them this year.

"This is why I'm sad. And this is why I suspect that you're all sad," he said. "We're sad about those who were badly hurt in the accident; we're sad about the girl who is in critical condition and may not recover; we're sad about those who were killed or seriously injured down in Arkansas, because they are all sacred, made in God's image and likeness, and they are all our brothers and sisters."

The March 24 Jonesboro, Ark., shootings at the Westside Middle School that left four children and a teacher dead and 10 students injured were a tragedy the cardinal said he cannot get off his mind. He said his heart goes out to those left behind whose lives were thrown into turmoil.

"Life changed just like that," he said. "Imagine what it's like for their parents, for their brothers and sisters, for their friends.

"Everyone tried to explain how this could happen--that a 13-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy could...set off the fire alarm so that all of the students and the teachers would leave the building in a very orderly fashion...so that they became like ducks in a shooting gallery--and then they just opened fire."

On another topic at the March 26 Mass, the cardinal told the teens that he has contacted a woman who asked for his help in escaping a life of drugs, alcohol and prostitution. He has referred to this letter in recent homilies and addresses, saying he was deeply touched by the woman's plea.

On Thursday, he used her story in an appeal to his teenage listeners.

"My dear young friends," he said, "please do not throw your lives away.

"Your lives are wonderful, you are wonderful people, you are good people, no matter what you may have done, no matter what your thoughts may be, no matter what your temptations are. You are good people...God made you, God loves you."

Greeting the teens at the start of the Masses, the cardinal said, "Welcome to your cathedral.

"Wherever you come from, any part of the Church of New York--Staten Island, Poughkeepsie, wherever it is--this is your cathedral," he said.

He explained the word cathedral comes from the Latin word cathedra which means bishop's chair, a symbol of his authority in his diocese. The cardinal pointed out his chair at the right of the altar in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Drawing on the day's Gospel reading, he urged the teens to allow God to multiply their gifts, the way Christ multiplied the loaves and fishes so that a crowd following him had enough to eat.

"We have gifts, everyone of us has gifts," the cardinal told them. "A little bit of bread and a little bit of fish fed 10,000 people, because that's what our Lord can do--if we let him."

Later, many teens said they found the cardinal's words an inspiration.

"He touched our hearts and showed us that he is really there for us in times of tragedy," said Jenny Lin of St. Joseph Hill Academy on Staten Island.

Vinny D'Eusanio of Msgr. Farrell High School on Staten Island said the cardinal's message showed the teens how they can relate their faith to present-day situations and gave them "a sense on how it all fits in."

Students interviewed by CNY also agreed that it was good to hear the cardinal's message before they went off to college in September.

"I don't think there's any better person to hear advice or information from," said Diane Fisher of St. Barnabas High School in the Bronx.

Said Kimie Mullarkey of St. Jean Baptiste High School in Manhattan: "It shows that he does care about our education and where we're going and gives a blessing for us for our future."