EL PASO — The Rev. Fabian Marquez had not slept much. Whenever he closed his eyes, his mind filled with the faces he saw draining of hope as they learned their relatives had been killed. His week had been a string of vigils, rosaries, memorial services and funeral planning sessions.

Still, he had another community to attend to, his congregation at El Buen Pastor, a small mission church on the outskirts of El Paso, where every weekend he presides over three Masses in Spanish and one in English and Spanish.

He was in his office, his Bible cracked open and notes splayed on his desk, trying to come up with a sermon. He had to distill the horrors the community had endured in the past week, and somehow find meaning. El Paso had not been struck merely by an episode of random mass violence. The gunman who charged into a Walmart store had a manifesto that made clear that he had a specific target: Hispanic people and immigrants, the people sitting in his pews. Fear had been added to their anguish.

Father Marquez, a Mexican-American and native son of El Paso, wrestled with what to say. It was Friday, and he had not even read the Bible verses scheduled to be the week’s readings. “I haven’t had the time,” he said. He hoped that a message offering comfort would come to him. “I always follow what the spirit tells me, and we take it from there.”