A disturbing sign of the times - more than 1,000 shootings in Chicago so far this year

With the acts of terrorism and war that are on the news every night, we can be overwhelmed with all the violence that is going on in the world today.  I certainly hear that from some of my parishioners.  We hear about the violence and destruction from ISIS.  We hear about religious persecutions and intolerance.  In the midst of that, I read this today:  It is only the month of April, and already this year there have been 1,000 shootings in the city of Chicago already this year.  The article from the Chicago Tribune said that the rate of violence this rate is greater than anything seen since the 1990s.  New York, a city more than three times the size of Chicago, had less than a fourth of the shootings in Chicago.  With Chicago as my hometown and one of the places I love most in the world, with my ancestors going back to Chicago to my great-great grandfather, Captain David Dall, who ran schooners and other ships along the Great Lakes, I am greatly disturbed by this reality.  There are no easy answers, but we all need to work for peace on many levels in our lives.   The Second Vatican Council said that we need to read the signs of the times, to dialogue with the modern world, to infuse the world with the values of our faith.   Pope Francis does a good job of this.  How can we follow his example.