Bullets Flying…They Used Their Bodies to Shield Strangers. Would You?

January 3, 2026 by Michael O'Rourke

Their split-second decision to protect… cost everything! It may well have bought them Paradise that very day. Thank you to all who put your life on the line for others in dramatic ways. Thank you to those who die to yourselves in small ways every day. Look deeper and see a similarity to the Catholic priesthood where often unheralded self-sacrifices are saving supernatural life every day. Click over to the full Family Conquest. The “To Do” activity in the Wrapping It Up section asks families to share any stories they may have about someone who laid down his or her life to save someone else.
(i.e. St Gianna Molla, Maximillian Kolbe, someone you may know, etc.)

(View segment from 0 to 2:11)

Spiritual Nuggets for Family Discussion

Open with a prayer.
(i.e. a Glory Be, or Our Father, or Hail Mary, or ‘Jesus, Mary, Joseph, we love You! Save souls!’)

What did the police officers do when they realized that shots were being fired at the crowd?

They used their bodies as shields to protect others from being shot.

Do you think that some of those police officers went to heaven that day?

They may well have gone straight to Heaven for their great act of love and self-sacrifice.
Many or all of their sins may have been atoned for since “Charity covers a multitude of sins.” -1Peter 4:8

How is the job of a police officer similar to the job of a priest?

Both are called to serve, protect, and lay down their lives for others.

How is the work of a priest different and more important than the job of a police officer?

Police officers serve, protect, and sacrifice themselves to save the natural lives of people.
Priests serve, protect, and offer Jesus’ perfect sacrifice to save the supernatural life of people, the eternal life of their immortal souls.
It is a temporary tragedy if a person’s body dies; it is an eternal tragedy if a soul goes to eternal death, eternal separation from God.
Priests give themselves completely to Christ, and through the priests, Christ gives us the greatest gift in the universe, His love and eternal life in Heaven.

Close with a prayer.

*****Please comment below and share a little something about how it went with your kids or what they liked.
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