December marks the ringing of bells, chanting of holiday carols, and opening of gift-wrapped presents. However, this year, it has been marked with cold murder. The victims are NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The shooter was Isma­aiyl Brinsley, who went on a rampage after injuring his girlfriend. Apparently, Ismaaiyl publicly announced on various online out­lets that he would be targeting two officers in the area. By the time the New York Po­lice Department was informed of the violent rumors, it was already too late.

What was the cause of this? Accord­ing to reports, Ismaaiyl seems to have been avenging the deaths of two earlier African-American victims: Eric Garner and Michael Brown. It was a brutal killing, assassination style that happened in an instant. Ismaaiyl pulled out his gun and shot the officers point blank.

Paramedics did all they could, but it just was not enough. December 21st, will remain a day of sor­row, especially for the family of these two innocent of­ficers. The following Sunday, Mayor Bill De Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton attended a Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral said by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

“Today, December 21st, is the darkest day of the year, the day of least light as the sun is at its lowest point,” the cardinal noted.

“Light trumps darkness, hope beats de­spair, grace wins over sin, love defeats hate, life conquers death,” the cardinal continued.

Cardinal Dolan led the packed cathedral and asked for a message to be sent to the NYPD.

“Would you tell your officers that God’s people gathered at St. Patrick’s this morn­ing, thundered with prayers for and with them, and that we love them, we mourn with them, we need them, we respect them, we are proud of them, we thank them!”

Truly, our hearts go out to those officers who are putting their lives on the line for the local citizens. Too often, we label them as corrupt, greedy, and evil, when in fact, a lot of the officers are the ones who are sav­ing us and keeping the neighborhoods safe from terror. We must not forget that they are humans too, with husbands, wives, children, and families of their own.