by Rev. George M. Witt, SJ

Like everyone else, I am deeply disturbed by the events in Washington, DC this past Wednesday. The violent assault was shocking to witness and has shaken our nation to its core.

What it all means for the future of our country is yet to be seen, but two things are clear: we need to honor the shock and grief we are currently experiencing, and we need to acknowledge that there will be no moving forward together without a profound experience of reconciliation and healing.

Recent Jesuit documents remind us that this latter task is no simple matter, involving as it does the need for truth, transparency, and a willingness to acknowledge individual and collective sinfulness. As people formed in the Ignatian tradition, reading the signs of this fractious time, let us not be deaf to the call to be agents of these sorely needed virtues.

While we cannot control the course of history at the national level, we do have choices to make. In the coming weeks, as we work through our grief, I encourage all of us who are inspired by Ignatian spirituality to examine our own experiences of division, acknowledge our complicity in creating or maintaining it, and foster through prayer and action the healing and reconciliation to which we are called.

And in all of it, let us keep our eyes on our Lord, Jesus Christ, who knows our pain, remains with us through it, and will supply the grace we need.

Rev. George M. Witt, SJ, is Executive Director of the Office of Ignatian Spirituality.