Her name is Anne Smedinghoff. She is 25-years-old, and the world is mourning her loss. Anne was twice my student at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL., and I find myself incredulous that someone so young, so talented, and so filled with passion for others has died. As I am sure you have read, Anne was one of five Americans killed in a suicide bomb attack in Qalat, Zabul. Working as a press officer for the U.S. embassy in Kabul, she was helping Afghan journalists cover an event at a boys school where the local U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team was to donate math and science books. As a Dominican School, Fenwick’s curriculum is based upon Saint Thomas Theology of profound respect for the human person, because we are made in the image and likeness of Almighty God (Imago Dei). As Imago Dei the human person is most authentically alive when we are in communion with Christ Jesus who shows us the way to be in union with one another. In her very quiet manner, Anne grasped this reality more than I ever knew. Her death causes me to ask “How long, O Lord; how long will this senseless fighting and purposeless killing go on?” Secretary of State John Kerry described Anne as “one of those rare individuals who firmly believed that through diplomacy and conversation; that by acknowledging one another’s differences while accepting each other, the world will be a better place”. Please pray for Anne, for her parents and three surviving siblings. Pray too, for an end to this killing and that while acknowledging one another’s difference we may accept each other.
