I went to Mass this evening at St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis and had the wonderful opportunity to meet with the priest afterward. He expressed his sorrow regarding the loss of Shawn and explained to me that the church had prayed for my family throughout the first week following Shawn’s death. In addition, the priest had offered a Mass for Shawn after his passing.
At one point in our conversation he mentioned that he doesn’t like to rely on the cliche, “one day at a time” as a phrase to offer someone who is grieving. Yet, it is often the truest remark that can be made during the valleys of such pain. He quickly added that it may be better to advise those who mourn to take “one-half of a day at a time”. Realistically, our prayer may actually resemble, “Lord, please help me to simply make it through lunch.” At this moment I was connected. This man knew exactly how my mind was operating.
