This Sunday’s second reading exhorts listeners “to conduct yourselves [in such a manner as] to please God.” The conduct of a white Chicago police officer who shot a black teenager 16 times last year came under intense scrutiny this week as the officer was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday, hours before the city released a video of the killing that many people fear will spark unrest. A judge ordered that the recording be made public. City officials spent months arguing that the footage could not be made public until the conclusion of several investigations. After the judge's order, the investigations were quickly wrapped up and a charge announced.

Homily hint: We live in an age where people on all sides of the law seem all too ready to pull the trigger first and ask questions later. Somehow the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of the gun. Before we descend into a Wild West era we need to stop the killing and find a better way forward. Let this latest tragedy serve as the impetus for a profound change in culture.

For more on the Chicago tragedy, see: Chicago police officer charged with murder in teen's death, video released