LEWISTON, Maine — For 85 years the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul has stood on Bartlett Street, but never before has Sunday Mass followed a tragedy that struck so deeply at the hearts of local parishioners.
Those who gathered there said they hoped to draw strength from each other and find some comfort from the familiar rituals that served as proof their world, though changed by Wednesday’s mass shootings, has remained intact.
"It's part of our history now and I pray that we are a community committed even more to the good," the Very Rev. Daniel Greenleaf, who heads the Prince of Peace Parish, told the crowd.
"I don’t always have an answer why good people experience things that are bad. I only can see what happens when these things happen, that it seems like more than ever goodness rushed right in and cares and starts its work right away."
Father Greenleaf’s homily struck the right tone with parishioner Jessica Ramsden, who spoke to KARE 11 after the service.
"In these types of situations, we always feel anger. At least I do. I feel anger, and it's really important to be reminded that that's not our priority to be angry. Our priority is to be loving and helpful and prayerful," Ramsden remarked.
"My faith tells me that no matter what happens there's always hope. God always wins in the end whether that's through healing, whether that's through people coming together and helping one another."
Father Greenleaf said the lockdown during the manhunt for suspect Robert Card kept him separated from his parishioners during a time of intense community trauma and anxiety.
"Certainly, as a priest the first thing I want to do is bring everybody together. Let's talk about it. Let's pray together. Let's do something. And that really couldn't happen for three days after the horrible events."
This parish was founded by French Canadian mill workers more than a century ago, and has been tested by wars, depressions, and other types of tumult. But members say this time it feels different something unthinkable happened in places they've been, to people they know.
Faith leaders are being asked to explain how innocent people can by murdered without warning, which was the case when a man armed with an assault-style rifle attacked a local bowling alley and a local bar October 25, killing a total of 18 people and wounding 13 others.
"When you have this tragedy, this evil, this violence the big question is, 'Why? Why did this happen? These were good people that didn’t deserve this.' I think God takes the brunt of our anger because we don’t where to go with it. Who do you blame?” Greenleaf said.
He said it’s not his role to try to explain why. It’s his job to give people the time and space they need to process all the emotions they’re feeling. He said he hopes people left the Basilica Sunday morning knowing their parish family is there to listen and help for as long as it takes.
"My experience is that people are still stunned. I’m just letting them know I’m here. I’m here. And if they can just talk about it, it doesn’t carry the same intensity. If they can just talk about it. And talk about it again and again and again." Fr. Greenleaf explained.
"That’s one of the things we should be prepared for, that we’re going to be hearing about it for a long time now. We all remember where we were on Wednesday night. We’ll always remember where we were when he heard."