When I was maybe ten years old, my mom called me from her work down at City Hall and said, “Amy, there’s an elderly women down the street whose husband passed away. She needs help going through his things, so I need you to go down and help her.”
I was a bit shocked by this request. I had no clue who this lady was and going to her home to help her go through her husband’s things was not my idea of a good time on a summer day. But, I obeyed my mom and went.
When I got to her house at the end of the road, I was invited into the dark house. I recognized the lady but I didn’t really know her. Still, we set about going into her husband’s room to clear things out.
She needed me to lift a few boxes and such, but, even at my young age, I knew I was there to be a companion during this difficult time. We’d go through a drawer, she’d tell me a story about some knick-knack in it, and then she’d cry.
I didn’t know really what to say or how to help her, but I knew why my mom sent me and I was no longer upset that I had given up a summer day to be with this neighbor.
After a few hours, we finished up and she hugged me goodbye and that’s the last I ever saw of her. It’s odd to think that I spent a whole day with some woman whose name I don’t know and whose face I would never be able to recognize. Not to mention, I helped her with a very intimate and difficult chore.
I have often thought about her. I wondered why she didn’t have any children to help her or a friend. How did I get called to the job? I asked my mom. “I think she called down to City Hall looking for help or maybe it was the church, I don’t remember, but she said she needed help and so I sent you.”
As a grown woman now, I find it a bit devastating that someone had so few people in their life that they had to call City Hall for help. Imagine that kind of desire for human connection.
In our Gospel reading today from Luke 14:12-14, Jesus asks us to reach out to those who can offer us nothing in return. There are many, so many, out there, Catholic Pilgrims, that need us, if for nothing more than a sign that we care about them. I pray we look for ways to be that person to someone else.
Have a blessed Monday.
