Lewis Says Forgiveness Starts With A Choice

A release from the Lynnfield Catholic Collaborative:

LYNNFIELD – Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son was a victim of the Sandy Hook tragedy six years ago, dedicates her life to spreading the message: Choose Love.

On Sunday, Nov. 18, Scarlett spoke at St. Maria Goretti Church, explaining that "Forgiveness starts with a choice, and becomes a process ... Love is compassion in action."

Scarlett’s son Jesse was murdered in his first-grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, alongside 19 of his classmates and six educators in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. In a true act of courage and love, he used his final moments to heroically save six of his classmates while he stayed by his teacher’s side.

Three days after the shooting, Scarlett returned home to pick up some clothes for her son’s funeral. There, on the kitchen chalkboard, she found that Jesse had written three parting words “nurturing, healing, love”. These words are now the basis of the “Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement,” a program to spread social and emotional learning as a way to prevent tragedies such as the one that occurred at Sandy Hook. It teaches children how to cultivate empathy, and how to understand and manage emotions. The free program is currently being taught in all 50 states and 65 countries worldwide.

For more information on the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, visit www.jesselewischooselove.org.

Photos by Marie Lagman; Father Paul Ritt (Pastor of the Lynnfield Catholic Collaborative), Scarlett Lewis, Donna Hegan (Pastoral Associate of the Lynnfield Catholic Collaborative); Scarlett Lewis speaks to audience.