Yesterday, my brother attended a funeral for the mother of a friend of his. Being one of the few Catholics in his choir, he was kept busy explaining things to his friends during the Mass. From what he told me however, he did well and perhaps this small act of charity to his protestant friends helped make them feel more comfortable in the foreign settings. My brother was quiet when he came home, and I found him playing a video game in the living room.
The woman died quite suddenly. I didn't know her from Adam, but it's sad to lose a parent. Thank God neither of mine have gone to their rewards yet. In fact, they just celebrated their 25th anniversary this past Tuesday (I should probably dedicate a seperate post to that). My brother told me that the woman suffered a severe stroke that left her heart beating but left the doctors with little options but to let her go. How tragic for this friend of my brother's. My brother and the rest of her friends have been trying to keep her busy and also try to be there for her. I told my close friend who lost her father to diabetes at 13. She said the thing she remembered most was that people were there. Just their presence helped her cope with her father's death. Nothing they said was terribly consoling. I'd imagine it wouldn't be. But the fact that people were around her made her feel better.
Fr. Groeschel once talked about presence in a video he did on Eucharistic adoration. He noted how someone can be present to you from thousands of miles away on a telephone, but a person nudged against you on a sideway is not present to you because you take no notice of them. I pray for this friend of my brother's in hope she find Christ's presence in the sacraments and in the presence of her friends and family.
