University Ministry Holds Prayer Service in Wake of Highland Park Parade Shooting

A solemn prayer service was held in Dominican University’s Rosary Chapel this week in the aftermath of the July 4 parade mass shooting in Highland Park.

The service on July 6 featured prayer, scripture readings, hymns and reflections on the tragedy.

Participating were Tara Segal, director of University Ministry; John DeCostanza Jr., interim vice president for Mission and Ministry; Akua Kankam, university minister for the Beloved Community at Dominican University; and Sr. Jane Boland, OP. Student and torch leader Isabela Flores performed on violin.

“When we were thinking about how to respond, it was overwhelming,” Segal said. “How could we pray for just Highland Park when so many other lives were lost — in Uvalde, in Buffalo, here in our city? What can we offer our community when so much in our society is so unjust, so painful and so confusing?”

A reading from the Book of Lamentations, which acknowledges emotions of anger and despair amid suffering, also offers the message that God is merciful and loving, Segal said.

“We trust that God holds us through all of our feelings,” she said. “We trust that God will hold us through our doubt to faith and to action.”

Prayers were offered by Sr. Boland for victims of gun violence, those affected by trauma, decision-making leaders, victims of police violence, and first responders.

Segal and DeCostanza read from Kate Bowler’s “A Blessing When Thoughts and Prayers are Not Enough.”

DeCostanza noted that the challenge of communicating a message after a mass shooting is that “there are no words because it just keeps happening and happening and happening.”

“Our society really encourages us, I think sometimes, to suffer in silence and be alone or try and manage our emotional lives on our own,” he added. “These moments are clarion calls to not do that, but instead lean into communities and into each other.”

Faith communities can respond to such tragedies by engaging their members in movements that address violence, DeCostanza said.

“Those are political solutions, but as people of faith, we are called to live in the world and if we are participating actively in civic, public life, then we are doing what we need to do to exercise faithful citizenship,” he said.

Dominican University has reached out to students who live in Highland Park to offer support services. Additionally, any students in need of support are urged to contact SUPPORT4U, a mental health crisis text hotline, by texting the keyword STAR to 844-670-5838. Faculty and staff can access support through the university’s employment assistance program.