Helpless And Helpful

At the church I work at, the parish office is right next to the front door of the rectory (where the priests live on the second floor). On Sunday morning the parish office is closed and the building is quiet while I cook breakfast.

This morning I was doing my thing in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Both of the priests were over at the church so I ignored it, but several minutes later I started second guessing my decision. What if one of the deacons or seminarian had misplaced their key and were trying to get in? I decided to go peek out the window and see if anyone was there.

There was a man wearing a dark grey dress coat standing on the porch with his back was to me. He was wearing a stocking cap, but his body style was similar to the seminarian. However, when I opened the door he turned around I realized he was not one of the staff.

I guessed the man was in his early 50s, and his appearance indicated he had lived a hard life. He started telling me his story...he was homeless and had been diagnosed with cancer. He was looking for someone to help him.

I've heard enough fake hard luck stories to be jaded, but this man's felt genuine. However, even if I wanted to help him there was nothing I could do right then. I encouraged him to go across the parking lot to the church, where he could find one of the clergy to talk to. The man started to tear up, which made me feel awful, but he turned and started down the steps.

I went back to my cooking, but felt bad about the situation and wished I could have done more. Every Catholic church has organizations to help people, but since this wasn't my parish I didn't have any of the contact information.

When the pastor came in he asked what was for breakfast, then said he might be late because he needed to talk to a man first. I heard him walk out the back door. 

Ten minutes later he returned, and  I asked him if he might have been talking to the front porch man. He had. I learned that the man was trying to get to someone in the next county who had offered assistance. I have no idea if any other support was given, and I don't need to know. I'm just glad the man found some compassion.

Five years ago today: Moving Up, Moving Out