Hate Kills But Love Shields

On August 27, 2025, a 23-year-old shooter fired a rifle through the side windows of Annunciation Catholic School’s church in Minneapolis. The shooter was aiming at children sitting in the pews. Weston Halsne, a fifth-grade student at the school, was attending Mass when the shooting occurred. He told reporters that he ran under a pew and covered his head while shots came through the windows. He also said that his friend Victor was shot while shielding him. In the midst of the fiery darts of hate, love was demonstrated by Weston’s friend Victor by shielding his friend.

This sad and horrible incident shows a sharp contrast between two powerful emotions: love and hate. The Apostle John speaks plainly on the subject when he tells us that the children of God are known by their love, and the children of the Devil are known by their hate. 1 John 3:10-16 says: “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”. The Apostle says that the fruit of hate sometimes results in murder. But what does love bring? John tells us that love is demonstrated in sacrificial acts like laying down your life for a brother. Love brings the fruit of giving to those in need. It also goes beyond mere words and is demonstrated by deeds (1 John 3:18).

Who are we like? The shooter outside that church who fired his weapon hitting 21 with his hate-filled bullets, or a boy named Victor who shielded his friend with his own body? Hate kills but love shields!