Father Michael's Column

Pastor’s Column for September 28th, 2025

Last week I concluded my column by saying “God can—and is—bringing great good out of a great evil.” 



I was of course referring to the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, although any political assassination should rightly be seen as a great evil. I began explaining the sociological and spiritual underpinnings that could bring some people to celebrate the murder of someone who held different views than themselves. There are reasons they can twist what seems to be obvious truths and apparently then believe their own lies. I had intended to give some further insights in this column, but I decided to put that off until next week, so that I could focus this week on hope. 

Whenever we are confronted with evil, it’s important to remember that God has already won the victory in the death and resurrection of Christ. The final battle has been decisively won, but the forces of evil do not give up easily, and we find ourselves challenged again and again, testing our resolve until the Kingdom arrives in it’s fullness. Even a death that seems so pointless is not a victory for evil. As Paul says about Christ in his first letter to the Corinthians: “After having destroyed every sovereignty, authority, and power he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father. Christ must reign until God has put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1Cor 15:24-26)

I saw God’s hand and was very encouraged last Sunday when I decided to watch a little bit of the tribute to Charlie Kirk. (I wound up watching virtually all of it.) It wasn’t what I expected. It wasn't a relatively large crowd mourning his passing. It was a HUGE crowd praising God, singing, praying, and actually full of joy and hope in the midst of grief and tears. How huge? I learned that it wasn’t just attended by those who could get into the stadium (about 100,000), there were tens of thousand more who watched it on video in an overflow building. An associated tech company said 277,000 cell phones were in use in the immediate vicinity of the stadium. Ordinarily an event of these proportions would take some six months to organize, but it came together in 6 days. I suspect God had a hand in it. There were no riots, no violence because of anger over an unjust death. Instead there were people praying, and Christian bands were leading the singing. Some commentators characterized it all as a religious revival. I believe Charlie Kirk’s death was the trigger for a spiritual renewal for many people throughout the country. 

But there’s more. 

I had never before seen so many people on national television (actually, international television) openly and fearlessly proclaim, that Jesus Christ is Lord. People recalling Charlie’s life explained that serving his Lord was the driving force in his life and mission. But what really, really surprised me is that some famous politicians spoke—not about politics—but instead they unapologetically proclaimed their own deep love for the Lord! By the way, that’s called witness, and it has the power to change lives far more than any other approach. 

The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who I now know is Catholic, on national TV, gave a wonderful, concise proclamation of the kerygma, the basic message of the Gospel: that God the Son took on flesh, became one of us, died on a cross, and by his resurrection freed us from sin and death that we might have eternal life! 

The Vice-president, J.D. Vance, also Catholic, said that he has a great love of the Lord, but he admitted that until 2 weeks ago he hardly ever mentioned Jesus publicly. He said that he’s spoken more about God in the last two weeks than he had in his entire political career!

All of that, however, was blown away, when Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, spoke. She talked first about their God-centered marriage and their deep love for each other, and then about Charlie’s mission and how he wanted to help save young men, like the very man who took his life. And then, with obvious anguish, she publicly said to Charlie’s killer, “I FORGIVE YOU!” She said that’s what Jesus would want, and that’s what Charlie would want. I still get choked up when I think of that moment. It is a powerful Christian witness that stunned a lot of people. 

Millions of people had tuned in for the tribute. They, and many more who had not really known much of the man, were challenged by the death of Charlie Kirk. But it seems to be causing a desire in people, especially among young people, to discover God in their lives and respond to Him. Before Charlie Kirk’s assassination there were something like a thousand chapters of Turning Point USA in campuses throughout the nation. I just heard that TP USA has received over 100,000 inquiries about starting chapters. 

I say it again: God can bring great good out of great evil. Keep praying for our nation, and don’t be afraid to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

More next week. 

In Jesus, 
Fr. Michael