May I quickly share an experience? a woman asked me after mass. She told me about an elderly man who had been living with his wife in a centre for the seniors. Unexpectedly, he had had a stroke the day before and had been admitted to hospital where he died after a few hours. His wife, who had known him since childhood, was completely shocked and confused. In the old people's centre, the woman who told the story took care of the woman in sorrow as a pastoral assistant with a high degree of empathy. In the evening, she came by again and then sat at the old woman's bedside with another staff member. "May we still pray with you?" they asked the mourner. The widow gladly agreed. She herself suggested Psalm 90 as a text, a Psalm in which the harshness of life and death is expressed. Verse by verse, the three prayed this ancient prayer. It became a deep, honest moment - a time of great closeness in deep pain. Time stood still, the dawn of eternity.
