Clarissa Garcia's lesson to the sophisticates Plus Update

Clarissa Garcia, a fifth grade student at Annunciation, apparently wise beyond her years. According to this article, "Clarissa was praying." Let's put that in complete context. In that paragraph, it says "A different teacher took Clarissa and others to a preschool classroom downstairs. All the while, Clarissa was praying. 'I hope nobody got, like, killed or something like that or, like, hurt. I was just praying if everybody could be safe and, like, nobody would do this again,' Clarissa said."

This might sound controversial but it isn't. Yesterday's attack might've been much worse. Had the shooter stepped inside the church before openiong fire, it would've been much bloodier. There wouldn't have been 19 killed or wounded. It would've been double or triple that.

Reunification

Once the church was secure, everyone went to a designated reunification area. Suzanne Garcia, Clarissa’s mother, said she was at work at a different school when she received word of the shooting at Annunciation. Her principal gave her a ride to where she was told all the students would be.

"I just saw all the kids exiting, and it’s almost like a little parade of kids," Suzanne Garcia said. "I’m just, like, yelling out my daughter’s name, ‘Clarissa! Clarissa! Where are you? Where are you?'" One student assured Suzanne Garcia that Clarissa was there. "Praise God," Suzanne Garcia said when recounting the moment she was found out her daughter was safe.

"I felt, like, really safe," Clarissa said of reuniting with her mom. "Like my guardian angel was with me, God was with me. And I was, like, hugging my mom as tightly as I can."

To the sophisticated 'theologians' who told us that prayer isn't sufficient, I'll simply ask this: God commands us to "pray without ceasing." Am I supposed to ignore one of God's commands?

In Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul writes

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Notice that Paul tells us that many of our fights are against powers and principalities. Notice, too, that the whole armor of God a) is defensive in nature, b) covers us from head-to-toe and c) doesn't protect us against weapons if we turn and run. Finally, the whole armor of God includes one offensive weapon, which is the Word of God. Other translations identify this as the sword of prayer.

When armed with the power of the Gospel or the power of prayer, God can take over and go on the offensive. Am I supposed to reject the power of prayer? To sophisticates, the answer appears to be yes. To Jen Psaki and Jacob Frey, is it your advice that I battle powers and principalities stripped of my God-given weapons? Frankly, that'd be foolish. Finally:

UPDATE: Check this out:

Josefina Sanchez made the admission to KSTP on Wednesday after a 23-year-old born with the name Robert Westman, who later identified as Robin Westman, opened fire at a Mass being held at the Annunciation Catholic Church, which was attended by students from the attached school. The attack left two children dead and 17 others injured, 14 of whom were children.

"Something I knew was off, but I was a kid, how would I know like what to do?" Sanchez told KSTP, which reported that she was a seventh-grade classmate of Westman.

"When you see something erratic, it doesn’t leave your mind so... [Westman] would put up his hand and say like, ‘praise Hitler,’" Sanchez added.

Later, Sanchez said this:

"I think it’s actually a spiritual battle," Sanchez said to KSTP in reference to the video. "I don’t think it’s this world, it’s demonic, I’m sorry, but it is. I think we need Jesus. [Westman] needed him."

"I wish I could have said something sooner, but I was little, how do I know?" she also said.