The grief-stricken mother of one of the victims of the slaughter at Northern Illinois University said of her daughter: “She was our only child; the light of our lives.”In some small measure we all bear that grief in our hearts and pray that the light of the transfigured Christ may show us the way to new purpose and to peace.

Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, has contributed to Commonweal for fifty years. A selection of his essays and reviews, some of which first appeared in Commonweal, has been published as Christ Brings All Newness (Word on Fire Academic).

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