Are we not supposed to pray? Reflection for Friday of the first week of Advent

This is supposed to be a joyful season where our world is preparing for the birth of Christ into our world at Christmas time.  But, there have been acts of terrorism that have shaken people up, that have killed innocent victims, and that has shattered our notions of peace.  Many Christians and politicians have offered up prayers.  What has happened in the media is that some see action and praying as mutually exclusive actions.  And those who are calling for action are mocking those who pray.  And the solutions are not too easy are they.  A Democrat, one of President Obama’s dearest friends and closest advisors in now the mayor of Chicago, my hometown and one of the most violent places in our country.  And yet Chicago has one of the most restrictive gun policies in the country. So does California, where the shootings in San Bernardino took place, where the shooters lawfully purchased guns.  I am a priest and a person of prayer.  I also worked for three years in soup kitchens and a food bank and at a healing center, earning a stipend of $350 a month that supported my work.  I lived in the rainforest jungles of Ecuador as a lay missionary, working with community groups and in schools and in development projects.  I worked as a teacher for a year in south Texas, living in a garage and working at a school serving the children of migrant farm workers.  And after working at a high school in the Mississippi Delta for four years, I chose to be a priest here in Mississippi rather than in an affluent suburb of Chicago or Los Angeles, the two places where I grew up.  We work for peace and we pray.  We do both as Catholics.  The world criticizes us and is turning in a different direction.  But we will not give up.  We place our hope in the Prince of Peace.