I wrote a post on Sunday several hours after hearing of Bishop Kelsey’s death. In those hours, in our household of brothers, we were all in terrible shock and dealt privately with that feeling of loss. On Sunday night around 9, we had a service for Jim and on Monday morning we went to Mass at the sisters’ house presided by our own wonderful Bishop Marc Andrus, who not only worked with Jim in the house of bishops but was a dear friend.
I was amazed how each of us, in grief, supported one another. I felt God’s presence among us. Christ’s living presence is the comfortor. By having a religious context and a community context, we have space for loss and a language for grief.
We will have another Mass for Jim tomorrow night at our house. Our minister provincials will go up to Michigan later for the funeral. I feel that through these services, we honor Bishop Kelsey in a good way.
Growing up, I did not feel that we had this way of honoring our dead. Emotional and spiritual support are part of the infrastructure of religious life and for this I am thankful.
