Day 464 Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021

ANNOUNCEMENT: Just Faith ZOOM Presentation

“Seeds of Hope for Our Planet: Thomas Berry and the Great Work.”

Join us on Thursday, June 24, 7:00 PM Eastern Time,

4:00 Pacific Time for a presentation by Fr. Joe Mitchell entitled

“Seeds of Hope for Our Planet: Thomas Berry and the Great Work.”

(Thomas Berry)

The presentation will focus on how we can respond to Pope Francis’ call to “Care for Our Common Home.” Inspired by the wisdom of Thomas Berry, known as one of the great religious ecological thinkers of the 20th century, this presentation will explore the Great Work of our time: how to make a transition from a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would recognize the sacredness of all creation and find their place within the web of life.

Joseph Mitchell, C.P., a Passionist priest, received his training in theology at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and earned a graduate degree in Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He currently serves as president of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky, an organization inspired by Thomas Berry and dedicated to Earth and human flourishing. To register for this FREE event click this link:

https://justfaith.org/june-24th-webinar-with-fr-joe-mitchell/

Day 464 Wednesday, June 23rd Daily Reflection:

This story of an incredibly heroic teacher shows us another form of hope for our planet.

Two weeks ago, a girl in the sixth grade at Rigby Middle School in Rigby Idaho, brought a gun to school and shot three people.

(Custodian Jim Wilson)

Fortunately, the two students and custodian who were shot all survived and are recovering.

In the aftermath of the tragic shooting, a hero has emerged that everyone should know about, teacher Krista Gneiting. In an amazing feat of bravery and compassion, she disarmed the girl and then hugged her until police arrived. Her quick thinking and composure may have saved countless lives.

Gneiting was preparing her students for final exams in her classroom when a shot rang out down the hallway. She looked outside the door, saw the custodian lying on the ground, and then heard two more shots.

"So I just told my students, 'We are going to leave, we're going to run to the high school, you're going to run hard, you're not going to look back and now is the time to get up and go,'" Gneiting told Good Morning America.

While Gneiting was trying to help one of the students who was shot, she noticed the girl standing a few feet away with the gun. She told the injured student to stay still and she bravely approached her.

While most people's instincts would be to run or react violently, she calmly walked toward her.

"It was a little girl, and my brain couldn't quite grasp that," she said. "I just knew when I saw that gun, I had to get the gun."

"Are you the shooter?" she asked. Then she grasped the girl's arm, pulled it slowly down her sleeve, and took the gun from her.

"I just slowly pulled the gun out of her hand, and she allowed me to. She didn't give it to me, but she didn't fight," Gneiting said. "And then after I got the gun, I just pulled her into a hug because I thought, this little girl has a mom somewhere that doesn't realize she's having a breakdown and she's hurting people."

She then held the young girl tightly and consoled her until police arrived.

"After a while, the girl started talking to me, and I could tell she was very unhappy," Gneiting said. "I just kept hugging her and loving her and trying to let her know that we're going to get through this together. I do believe that my being there helped her because she calmed down."

When police arrived she was placed in handcuffs.

"She didn't respond, she just let him. He was very gentle and very kind, and he just went ahead and took her and put her in the police car," she said

Gneiting knew that the girl was obviously in serious psychological and emotional pain and instead of exacerbating it, she showed her incredible compassion.

Because, after all, she's a child.

Now, Gneiting believes the focus should be on the girl's mental health instead of punishment.

"She is just barely starting in life and she just needs some help. Everybody makes mistakes," she told ABC News. "I think we need to make sure we get her help and get her back into where she loves herself so that she can function in society."