{"id":602,"date":"2012-07-21T13:24:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-21T13:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/catholic-chaplain-helps-families-and-survivors-after-aurora-shootings\/"},"modified":"2012-07-21T13:24:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-21T13:24:00","slug":"catholic-chaplain-helps-families-and-survivors-after-aurora-shootings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/07\/catholic-chaplain-helps-families-and-survivors-after-aurora-shootings\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic chaplain helps families and survivors after Aurora shootings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Englewood, Colo., Jul 21, 2012 \/ 07:24 am (CNA<\/a>).- At Swedish Medical Center, where 23 victims of a deadly movie theater attack were brought in the early hours of July 20, lay Catholic chaplain Marcus Ebenhoe is helping family, friends, and survivors.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cA lot of it's just helping people make meaning of what's happening,\u201d the lay chaplain told CNA on Friday afternoon. \u201cI had someone who said: 'The person to my left and the person to my right both got shot, but I didn't. Why am I here? What purpose do I have in my life?'\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEbenhoe is trying to help Catholics, and members of other faiths, make sense of Colorado's worst mass murder in over a decade, which took place during a midnight screening of \u201cThe Dark Knight Rises\u201d at the Century Movie Theater in Aurora on July 20.<\/p>\n

\tFormer medical student James Holmes, 24, is believed to have entered the theater through a rigged exit door, wearing body armor and a gas mask. Authorities say he detonated a gas canister and opened fire on the crowd, killing 12 people and wounding 59 before surrendering to police in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\tMany of the victims were brought to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood. Ebenhoe could not provide details, but confirmed that he had been counseling individuals who were directly affected, \u201cas they are processing what has happened and what they have been through over the last 14 to 15 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Catholic chaplain is committed to \u201cjourneying with them through this scary and challenging time,\u201d\u00a0 whether by prayer, guidance, \u201cor just providing an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cObviously, an event like this brings up many questions, and lots of fear and anxiety,\u201d he told CNA. Some wonder about God's purpose in permitting such acts of evil, while others wonder, \u201cWhy me?\u201d \u2013 or even \u201cWhy not me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEbenhoe tries to help them \u201cget to the emotion behind the questions that they're asking,\u201d so that they can begin finding consolation and meaning in the midst of suffering.<\/p>\n

\tLess than a day after the shootings, however, \u201ca lot of people are still in shock.\u201d This means there are limits as to how much discussion is possible \u201cwithout re-traumatizing people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSome of the survivors \u201cgo from shock to anger.\u201d Others are calm and \u201cjust trying to process what's happening\u201d on a factual level, \u201cbut at the same time, physically, they're shaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEbenhoe's approach to tragedy is formed by his faith in Christ's resurrection and victory over death. But humanity must pass through death in order to share in Jesus' triumph, a paradox that has led theologians to describe the resurrection as a reality that is both \u201cnow\u201d and \u201cnot yet\u201d present.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe're living in the time of the resurrection \u2013 but we're also in that 'not yet' time,\u201d waiting for \u201cthe fulness of the kingdom,\u201d the chaplain observed.<\/p>\n

\tAs Aurora residents confront the \u201cbrokenness of this human world,\u201d they can be assured of God's close identification with their suffering. God is \u201cwith us throughout this,\u201d and humanity has \u201ca savior who suffered also,\u201d Ebenhoe recalled.<\/p>\n

\tThrough prayer, in particular, God gives victims of evil the strength to persevere in hope.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\t\u201cI notice people praying the Rosary,\u201d Ebenhoe said. \u201cThey say: 'I haven't prayed the Rosary in 20 years, but right now this is what I'm grounded in, and this is what I need to help me through this at this moment.'\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWhile he would \u201cnever wish suffering upon anyone,\u201d the lay chaplain has also seen \u201ca lot of transformation occur in people when they are in those moments of suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThese \u201cmoments of despair,\u201d he said, can lead to \u201ca new experience and appreciation of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cSometimes it is in people's suffering that they are able to get to the core of themselves, and the core of the Spirit of God,\u201d Ebenhoe noted.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Englewood, Colo., Jul 21, 2012 \/ 07:24 am (CNA).- At Swedish Medical Center, where 23 victims of a deadly movie theater attack were brought in the early hours of July 20, lay Catholic chaplain Marcus Ebenhoe is helping family, friends, and survivors.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nCatholic chaplain helps families and survivors after Aurora shootings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Englewood, Colo., Jul 21, 2012 \/ 07:24 am (CNA).- At Swedish Medical Center, where 23 victims of a deadly movie theater attack were brought in the early hours of July 20, lay Catholic chaplain Marcus Ebenhoe is helping family, friends, and survivors. ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/07\/catholic-chaplain-helps-families-and-survivors-after-aurora-shootings\/\" \/>\n<meta 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