"Heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3.

The bullets pierced through a solemn day meant to mark the start of the Holy Lent. Frantic parents rushed to the school — some still with ash crosses on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday.

With every shooting, we become more vocal in our heartbreak and outrage, demanding more from people of faith and the government than blanket statements about just “thoughts and prayers”. Questions inevitably we may ask “where was God during these tragedies?”

One of the biggest challenges we are all facing today is the pressure to explain at the context of our faith that “why someone would do something like this. Yet, no answer will take away the pain and agony of the families who are the victims of such violent attacks. The religious leaders tried to cope with the situation and help to those struggling and meet them in their suffering by creating space for lament, providing comfort, encouraging community, and reminding others of the hope we have in Christ.

Also we should not forget those who have continuously suffering because of their faith. This season of Lent is an opportunity for us to reflect on God’s mercy and also a challenge for us to extend that same mercy through acts of love to our neighbor.

Our Christian communities in the Middle East continue to face adversity in 2018. Christians in Iraq are rebuilding their communities after the scourge of ISIS, Coptic communities in Egypt worry whether their churches are safe places to worship, and Lebanese Christians are seeking stability and security for their home country.

In India, a majority section of the Syrian Christians are forced out from their worshipping place, build and used by their forefathers to protect and survive in their faith, because of a smoke screen of a Supreme Court verdict ordered by a corrupted Judiciary in India. A recent study released by the University of Stockholm says that “India’s Judiciary is for Sale. Under the administration of the current government, verdict can be bought and fixed with money in favorable terms”, the study says. Such fallacious acts also a reason for the people to doubt their faith.

(Father Joseph Varghese, Executive Director, Institute for Religious Freedom and Tolerance, New York )