It was a regular Sunday, just like this one.
Rebecca Ory Hernandez, 47, and her 5-year-old son, Gerard, slept in, got dressed, enjoyed doughnuts and attended church - perhaps like you will with your family today.
A few things were out of the ordinary. Normally Rebecca and son (and husband - currently on Air Force duty in Illinois) would have gone to the earlier Mass at Saint James the Just Catholic Church in Ogden, Utah. And normally they would have been seated on the left side in the front instead of the right side in the back.
And normally Rebecca (who is a dear friend of my dear friend; we thumbs-up each other’s food photos on social media, where she has counseled me in caring for an overeager cilantro plant) wouldn’t have had her phone in her purse, opting to “unplug” on Sundays.
She would need her phone this day, which would take a terrifying turn for Rebecca, her fellow parishioners and all her family and friends who follow her on Facebook.
“Someone shot in St. James Catholic Church 911,” she hurriedly posted as her status last Sunday morning, adding moments later, “911 someone [shot] in mass help.”
That someone was longtime parishioner Jim Evans. Evans was shot in the head, allegedly by his son-in-law, who entered the church mid-Mass holding his wife’s hand (by force, Rebecca believes). On Father’s Day.
Rebecca didn’t see it from 10 feet away. She heard the door open. She heard the loud shot, which had her down on the floor on top of her son and would have her ears ringing for hours. And she saw the blood.
With experience working around health professionals and as a lifeguard, she tended to the victim, checking his vitals and trying to contain his bleeding with her scarf and other spare apparel, as some parishioners rushed out after the man, and others stayed, reciting the “Hail Mary.”
Despite the traumatizing event, Rebecca says, everyone remained “very calm, there was just no chaos, it was not like that.”
A suspect - the shooter fled the scene after allegedly stealing a truck from a stranger at gunpoint - was apprehended when his vehicle ran out of gas. Police arrested Charles Richard Jennings Jr. hours after the Sunday shooting. He was to be arraigned Tuesday.
Evans survived. The bullet entered near his right ear and exited his cheek, according to hospital staff who took part in a Monday news conference. He did not sustain brain damage. And he is expected to recover.
Now the church and its parishioners have to recover.
From minor scrapes (Rebeccahas bruised knees and a hip out of alignment from falling to the floor) and major fears: “I can’t believe this happened here - in our safe space.”
Or as her 5-year-old put it: “There’s not supposed to be any bad guys in our town.”
A bad guy did shatter some peace, bone and innocence.
But not the Spirit.
When things settled, Father Erik Richtsteig concluded the Mass, Rebecca says, paraphrasing his words: “Let me tell you something, the church has been desecrated. It will have to be reconsecrated. There will be Mass tomorrow - this will not change.”
Richtsteig said the parish would pray for Evans, his wife and his daughter. And - in spite of all pain and anger - they would pray for the shooter.
Rebecca will return to church, as will her son (although not the very next day. When she asked her son ifhe wanted to attend, he said, “We already did that yesterday!”).
“I don’t know what that will be like,” Rebecca says, but she will go.
She reiterates what Richtsteig told them.
“Evil will not win. It just can’t.” E-mail: [email protected] Spin Cycle is usually a weekly smirk at pop culture. But not today.
Style, Pages 45 on 06/23/2013