(NECN) – Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick spoke at the interfaith healing service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston Thursday.
Patrick spoke before President Barack Obama.
He said his faith scripture teaches in everything, give thanks. While he acknowledged it’s not always easy to do, and he especially wasn’t feeling it Monday afternoon when he felt shock, confusion and anger.
He said the nature of faith is learning to return to the lessons even when they don’t make sense, even when they defy logic.
Gov. Patrick says he has found a few things to be thankful for.
“I’m thankful for the firefighters and police officers who ran toward the blasts, not knowing whether the attack was over, and the volunteers and other civilians who ran to help right alongside them. I’m thankful for the medical professions, from the doctors and trauma nurses, to the housekeeping staff, to the surgeon who finished the marathon and kept on running to his operating room, all of whom performed at their very best. I’m thankful for the agents from the FBI and the ATF, and the officers from the state police and Boston PD, for the soldiers from the National Guard and all other law enforcement personnel who both restored order and started the methodical work of piecing together of what happened and who is responsible. I’m thankful for Mayor Menino who started Monday morning frustrated he couldn’t be at the finish line this time, as he always was, and then late that afternoon checked himself out of the hospital to help this city, our city, face down this tragedy. I’m thankful for those who have given blood to the hospitals, money to the One Fund, and prayers and messages of consolation and encouragement from all over the world. I’m thankful for the presence and steadfast support of the President and First Lady, our many former governors who are here, thank you. I’m thankful for the other civic and political leaders who are here today and for the many, many faith leaders who have ministered to us today and in the days since Monday. I’m thankful for the lives of Krystle, Lu Lingzi and little Martin, and for the lives of the families who survived them and for the lives of all the people hurt but still woke up today with the hope of tomorrow. And I am thankful, maybe most especially, for the countless numbers of people in this proud city and this storied Commonwealth, who in the aftermath of such senseless violence, let their first instinct be kindness. In a dark hour, so many of you showed so many of us that darkness cannot drive out darkness, as Dr. King said. Only light can do that.”
Gov. Patrick said just as we are taught not to lose touch with our spiritual faith at times like this, let us also not lose tough with our civic faith.
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“Massachusetts invented America, and America is not organized the way countries are usually organized. We’re not organized around a common language, a religion or even culture. We’re organized around a handful of civic ideals and we have defined those ideals over time and through struggled as equality, opportunity, freedom and fair play. An attack on our civic ritual, like the marathon, especially on Patriot’s Day, is an attack on those values. And just as we cannot permit darkness and hate to triumph over our spiritual faith, so we must not permit darkness and hate to triumph over our civic faith. That cannot happen and it will not. And so we will recover and repair. We will grieve our losses and heal. We will rise and we will endure. We will have accountability without vengeance, vigilance without fear, and we will remember, I hope and pray, long after the buzz of Boylston Street is back, and the media has turned its attention elsewhere, that the grace this tragedy exposed is the best of who we are."
Gov. Patrick then went on to introduce Obama.
