The Sting of Death

My wife’s brother, Steve Kuder, SJ, at Gonzaga University, died August 5. He had responded well to cancer treatment and beat back COVID a month earlier but went into the hospital that afternoon with extremely low blood pressure. He died in the evening of what seems to have been multiple organ failures.

We're still in shock. We saw him a month ago, and he seemed to be his old self. He got COVID by having dinner with someone who, unbeknownst to him, hadn’t been vaccinated. The family was making plans for a big reunion in late August. No one expected it to get moved up two weeks.

Seculars have called Steve "a great guy". I think he was the epitome of Jesuit spiritual formation.

I wasn’t going to write about Steve this morning, but there is St. Paul and here is this email that Ann, my wife, sent to her siblings:
 
We run into people whose lives he touched in odd places: the father of a new neighbor who had him when he was “Mr. Kuder” teaching English at Seattle Prep over fifty years ago or a recent GU grad renting a house on a beach on Camano Island.

Death does not have a victory, and I’m sure Steve died without its sting, but for the bereaved, the sting hurts as bad as ever.

And beware of COVID! Don’t be shy of asking people with whom you will be sharing an indoor space if they have been vaccinated. 

Ministry Opportunities
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If you are interested in seeing, tending or advising on the Parish garden, feel free to stop by or contact victoria.ries@comcast.net or 206-915-3479. We would be especially helped by another experienced vegetable gardener. ————————————————————————————————————————— Parish Collections
ollection so far this fiscal year July 1, 2021 – August 12, 2021.…....$41,675
The budget…                                                                                    .….$40,645
Last year at this time…                                                                    .….$51,056