Confession

I have to tell you that I am not a Notre Dame fan. Never have been and probably never will be. However, I was very impressed with how they handled a very difficult situation this past weekend.

You have probably heard about the tragedy that struck the South Bend campus almost two weeks ago. Declan Sullivan (pictured above), a student videographer, was killed Oct. 27 when a hydraulic lift he was on toppled over while he was filming football practice in high winds - click here for the full story.

As soon as I heard this, my heart was hurting. In addition to my feelings for his family, I thought how awful it would have to be to be the coach (head coach Brian Kelly) who made the decision to practice outdoors that day. I was wondering how the university would handle this. This past weekend I found out--they did it with class.

"Declan Sullivan was entrusted to our care, and we failed to keep him safe," the Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president wrote in an email to students. "We at Notre Dame and ultimately I as president are responsible. Words cannot express our sorrow to the Sullivan family and to all involved."

This is a terrible situation that is extremely sad. However, I am very proud of Notre Dame's president for stepping up to accept the blame. He, personally, had nothing to do with the accident, but he is accepting responsibility on behalf of the university, a very classy thing to do. It seems that this is not normal in our society, especially the way lawsuits are filed at the drop of a hat. But Rev. Jenkins got this right.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

James 5:16a