On Wednesday, at a school mass for the students of St. Mark in Buffalo, Father Dave Richards prepared for the Prayers of the Faithful.
In a Catholic Mass, it is a time for the congregation to collectively offer up their intentions of strength, perseverance, comfort and love. They lift up their hearts in prayer to those in need of housing, to the poor and the sick. They ask for their leaders to see the job ahead clearly. They offer prayers to families, parents and children. They remember those who have come and gone.
It made sense only in that moment to add in the one person who had been on the mind of everyone in Buffalo over the course of the past 48 hours.
