At Notre Dame, a Catholic school community, a place of safety and security, students and staff feel the same vulnerability. Churches are a place we consider holy, safe and protected; however, they can be targets and challenge our sense of security.

Aubrey Businger, Tier One Student Services, expresses her feelings towards the tragedy, stating, “I thought it was sad, because this is something that’s becoming very normalized on school campuses, but I think too it also brings a lot of attention to what needs to be changed in the safety measures regarding schools or just in general, like gun policies.”

As a school community, we relate deeply to this tragedy since mass is meant to be a time of peace and reflection, and a space to share emotions and feelings. Many of these sacred spaces can be vulnerable.

Aubrey adds how NDB immediately responded, “Well, we immediately met with our school resource officer, and then we sent out communications to each family regarding the situation and how NDB wants to emphasize that student safety is a priority here. So we communicated that with every parent, and then, yeah, there were no other new safety measures put in place.”

Faith and community help process fear through prayer and reflection. Prayer gives people a sense of calm and control in uncertain times. It offers people an opportunity to focus on a higher power, instilling a sense of peace and trust and it provides comfort by acknowledging ones divine support and love. Through these actions, our community can reflect and pray to overcome fear.

Tragically, school shootings reveal the deep necessity of mental health support, individually and communally, highlighting how faith-based communities can provide social connectedness. Many of these events underscore the importance of our community providing support from counselors, teachers and administrators. Having peer-to-peer care and support is essential in creating a safe and trusted environment while dealing with overcoming fear.