(The following is the text of Cardinal Wuerl’s July 9 “Seek First the Kingdom” blog post on the Dallas tragedy, in which five police officers were killed and seven others wounded by a sniper.)

As with so many others across this nation, our hearts go out to the families of the law enforcement officers in Dallas who gave their lives for something greater than themselves.

I have had the privilege of celebrating the Blue Mass here in our nation’s capital for law enforcement officers, fire fighters, first responders, and their fallen brothers and sisters. It is small comfort, perhaps, to those grieving, but it’s important to recall that those brave men and women who give their lives in service to their communities do so for the greatest of all causes: to allow God’s love to work in all of us to build a truly good and just society, a world truly reflective of that command, love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.

The law enforcement officers in Dallas were killed because they were police officers. They died while simply doing their job: first, allowing their fellow citizens to freely and safely gather and demonstrate, and then running toward the crisis in an effort to stand between the unfolding chaos and their fellow citizens.

Hatred, anger, violence and death are never answers and never have been. They are not the path to human dignity, freedom and peace and never will be. As Christians, one body of Christ, we know that “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).  So it is, too, with the whole of humanity. “In the final analysis all life is interrelated,” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said. “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”

As people of good will, let us stand together and continue to pray for the souls of the departed and their families. Let us also pray for a greater respect for human life and for reconciliation, compassion, mutual respect and peace in our communities.