There are no easy answers at a time like this. All of our responses are inadequate. We need to come together both to grieve and to seek God's guidance as to what we can do to minister to those who are hurting and work to prevent tragedies like this from happening, or at least reduce the likelihood.

One small thing that I am doing is offering the Kindle version of my book of Christian meditations, Timeless Truths for Troubled Times, free to anyone who wants it from 12/16-12/18. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006V3IUAW

May God comfort all who mourn and bring peace that the world cannot give. Come, Lord Jesus!

Only God can glue together
what evil has shattered.
He just asks us to hand Him
the pieces of our broken hearts.

Adding this to your responses...

"We learn through these experiences of death that no matter how much we try to collectively better ourselves as a society, we appear to be going in the opposite direction. No matter how much we think we’ve advanced, even the advancements themselves seem to introduce a new form of destruction and death into our lives. And every now and again, it’s as if a veil has been removed and the dark underbelly of the human race is revealed: it is far more dark than we ever dared imagine." Yet there is Hope...
http://www.restoreworship.org/resources/articles/a-response-to-the-tragedy-in-newtown-connecticut/

Yesterday, a madman with guns entered an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and killed 27 people, 20 of them young children. The news of such a tragedy seems impossible to process. Unbidden, yet inevitable, the questions come to mind: How could this be real? What kind of person could do such a thing? What kind of world do we live in? Where is the line between insanity and evil?

News media show pictures of anguished mothers, paralyzed with grief at the incomprehensible violence. As one of those images flashes into mind, I think of another day in which the air was filled with the cries of mothers overwhelmed with unspeakable sorrow and unanswerable questions: the slaughter of the innocents. On that day, a madman with a crown ordered the systematic killing of every male child under two years old in the town of Bethlehem and its surrounding region. In the wake of yesterday’s news, this bible storybook tragedy becomes suddenly more visceral, the pain and evil of it leaping from the page into the mind and heart, bidding the same questions being asked by millions of people today of yesterday’s events.

In a strange way, I find comfort in the connection of these two stories, separated though they are by two millennia. There is, in fact, nothing new under the sun. The recognition of that truth does nothing to mitigate the sorrow of yesterday’s calamity, but it does blunt the sense of despair. For in fact, the world into which Jesus Christ was born was just as poisoned as the one we inhabit today, which is precisely why he came into it. As unimaginable as is the slaughter of the innocents, then or now, perhaps even more unimaginable is the love of a God who was willing to be born into his own creation as an innocent to be slaughtered in order that the tide of evil within it could be stemmed and the world made whole.

What kind of world do we live in? A deeply beautiful one, ravaged by pain and evil impossible to understand, but also possessing the raw material of the kingdom of heaven. Into that world came the Savior of mankind to initiate the great reversal, the undoing of the sin and evil that has turned it into a place where little ones are killed and parents’ lives are shattered. Mild he laid His glory by, born that man no more may die. And so, with heavy hearts, and yet with great hope, we await the return of our King, knowing that although the battle is not over, the victory is already won:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new!’” – Revelation 21:1-5

Thanks and praise be to God! O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel! Amen.

We have to face the truth. We are living in a society where murder,rape and numerous degenerate activities are presented as entertainment 365 days a week, along with video games that extoll mass murder so this is just the natural culmination of it. I'm watching this in tears. As a mother of two children I can't even imagine what I would do in a similar situation. What immediately came to my mind was an article I read a few days ago on my native Vancouver which is often presented as one of the most liveable cities with the safest neighborhoods in the world but only now I realize that you are no longer truly protected anywhere especially when children are exposed to this kind of evil from their early childhood.

There are no answers, don't even try. Our theology, which strives to protect God at all costs, falls on its face. The "hope" that we have condemns billions to an eternal hell.

Many emotions flood my mind as I read and view the news. One feeling is anger towards many Evangelicals who have felt the need to quickly enter into a rant about why this happened. Particularly on viewing this incident as a direct or indirect punishment from God for "Removing him from our Schools". God save us from your followers.

May we offer hope and not hurt to those who have lost their children, relatives and friends in this tragedy.

I am feeling deep inside for the families and community of Newtown, Connecticut. This, as everyone knows and has expressed, was a real tragedy. My emotions are still befuddled, and we probably will never know why this happened..........only Jesus knows. Last night, and today in the news on TV and in the papers and online, the word "slaughter" was used to describe what happened. I know the word is appropo for now, however, those whose lives were lost, were not slaughtered, in my eyes. Slaughter refers to me, to animals, and these people were certainly not animals. Please remove this word from future descriptions and newscasts, etc.

The madness and evil of murder, especially of another group of Holy Innocents, is now a world-wide phenomenon. It is a reminder that sin can reign in the human heart by way of the world, the flesh and the devil. While there is a growing hunger, emptiness, coldness in human hearts from the lack of a shared moral code, based on the Gospel of God in Jesus Christ, our task is to pray, proclaim the Good News, comfort as God gives us grace, and always, await with expectation the coming completion of God's Kingdom in our Lord's second Advent. Our cry is one with the early church and all believers, "Come, Lord Jesus!"

There are no words or answers for this tragedy. Above all there is no advice that can be given to a grieving parent if you have not experienced this hell on earth yourself. The best thing to do is to be present with a comforting hug.