Tragedy:  an event that causes great suffering, destruction, and distress.

This is the definition you will find in the dictionary.

We watch on a daily basis, through cable news and the internet, the tragedies that occur all around the world. and we grieve with those who suffer, knowing that suffering is a part of life and that no one is immune to it.

When a tragedy occurs at home, however, we feel the pain so much deeper, at levels we may not knew existed.  The senselessness of it goes beyond our comprehension as we desperately try to find answers.  And even if we had the answers, they can’t take away the pain and cannot fill the loss.

The horrific event at the Waukesha parade on Sunday afternoon is a tragedy beyond our comprehension. We are in shock. There are no words wide or deep enough to describe our emotions, nor are there prayers that capture exactly how we feel.

Yet Paul writes: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.”  (Romans 8:26) God sees into our hearts and knows our suffering as God’s son suffered on the cross for our sake.

We take refuge in God’s strength who will see us through this tragedy and trauma.  Our faith in the suffering God gives us great hope that suffering is not the last word.  It is life, a resurrected life, a life transcendent, a life that will be fully lived in the sacredness of God.  This is the last word.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.