Kobe Bryant

I was just scrolling through my twitter feed when I saw the first mention of the tragedy. There was nothing yet on the news feeds I follow so I was able to briefly hold out the hope that it wasn’t true, that it was just another twitter bomb set off by someone looking for likes and retweets, but then the truth of this tragedy became all too apparent. The news got worse when it was revealed that nine people perished in that crash, including Kobe’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Gianna. Among the others were the pilot and Orange Coast Head Baseball Coach John Altobelli along with his wife and daughter. The identities of the others have not yet been made public.

There will be many tributes in the coming days for all those whose lives were so lamentably cut short yesterday. There will be a call for answers and there will be some in the area of how the crash happened, what caused it, etc. But the one question no one will be able to answer is “Why?” Because there is no answer. All we can offer is prayer and comfort and for those close to the loved ones of those who died, a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen. 

I offer this in closing:

Death is Only a Horizon

We give them back to you, O Lord
who first gave them to us;
as as you did not lose them in the giving,
so we do not lose them in the return.

Not as the world gives do you give,
O Lover of souls.
For what is yours is ours also,
if we belong to you.

Life is unending because love is undying,
and the boundaries of this life are but a horizon,
and a horizon is but the limit of our vision.

Life us up, strong Son of god,
that we may see further.
Strengthen our faith that we may see beyond the horizon.

And while you prepare a place for us,
as you have promised,
prepare us also for that happy place;
that where you are we may be also,
with those we have loved, forever.

Bede Jarrett O.P.