Erika Kirk: 'I Forgive Him'

Fellow Catholic Erika Kirk stood before 100,000 people and millions more watching around the world and she spoke like a saint. About her beloved husband's assassin, she said, "I forgive him".

Erika Kirk walked past the trademark Turning Point USA fireworks displays and up to the microphone before over 100,000 people present. With tissue in hand, for them and an audience of millions more around the world, she performed an act of service. For all who were mourning the loss of her husband Charlie Kirk, she poured out her heart and shared the secrets of how God has been speaking to her and sustaining her following the death of her beloved Charlie.

She wanted them to know so they too could be blessed by God...

It’s in God’s Plan: Erika shared one of Charlie's favorite Bible verses, Isaiah 6:8. "Here I am, Lord. Send me." She went on, "When you say something like that, there is so much power in that verse when you say. 'Here I am, Lord, use me' - God will take you up on that. And he did with Charlie. In her surrender to God's plans, she is finding comfort in the words of Our Lord's Prayer: Thy will be done."

The Mercy of God: Upon viewing Charlies' lifeless body she said, "I saw on his lips the faintest smile. And that told me something important. It revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy. He blinked and saw his savior in Paradise. And all the heavenly mysteries were revealed to him."

She heard God's voice in Others: On the worst day of her life Usha Vance told her "You will get through these 15 minutes and the next 15 minutes after that." Erika said,”Those words were exactly what I needed to hear.” 

The Peaceful Response: “But most of all, God's mercy and God's love have been revealed to me these past ten days. After Charlie's assassination, we didn't see violence. We didn't see rioting. We didn't see revolution.”

The Holy Spirit is on the Move: “Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country: we saw revival. This past week, we saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade. We saw people pray for the first time since they were children. We saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives.”

After revealing these spiritual consolations that she has received from God and after giving advice to young people about marriage and family life, Erika spoke these unforgettable words:

“My husband, Charlie. He wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man. That young man. On the cross, our Savior said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." That man. That young man. I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did. It’s what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

This was the ultimate breakthrough of grace. The impossibly difficult moment frought with sweet agony when the light of good swallows whole the darkness of evil. It was a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is definitely at work in Erika. It was the fruit of many prayers said for her and her kids around this world and the one above. The grace of her Catholic sacraments Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation and Holy Matrimony all seemed to be stirred up and came to a head in the moment. She sounded like a saint. She remains for all of us the revelation of God’s presence in this tragic story. God is real and God is good.

See Erika's Powerful Eulogy here: