It was a chilly Saturday morning when Monsignor Richard Hilgartner arrived at St. Francis Xavier in Hunt Valley to celebrate the funeral Mass for one of his parishioners. St. Francis has opened its doors for the funerals of parishioners from Father Rick’s parish, St. Joseph in Cockeysville, which is completing a significant expansion and renovation.
As he got out of his car, Father Rick wasn’t expecting the update he received from one of the people assisting with ministry that day.
“Father, there’s a dog in the church,” she said. A small dog had slipped inside the church and was circulating while the family welcomed people for a visitation prior to the Mass. It was clearly a loved and cared-for dog since it was wearing a sweater on that sunny, crisp winter morning.
The funeral ministry volunteers sprang into action, corralling the dog in the church kitchen, and spreading word about the missing dog on social media. One volunteer stayed with the dog in the kitchen to try to keep it from barking while Father Rick started the funeral Mass.
As the liturgy got underway, Father Rick watched from the altar as a group of people arrived – clearly the dog’s owners – and walked through the narthex to collect their dog.
And so, the little dog made it safely home.
I happened to be there when Father Rick shared that story in his homily at Mass the next day. I loved it. There is something so beautiful about the fact that the little dog, wandering away from home, perhaps disoriented and confused, knew to come to church.
Whether it was looking for warmth, comfort, safety or company, it came through those doors trusting that it would be welcome. The dog was right. The people there cared for it and made sure that it made its way home to its family.
How wonderful to think that one of God’s creatures would see that sacred space as a place of comfort and solace. I hope that each of us can see our church and the people within it as a source of support and welcome. And I hope we can also find ways to be that for others.
As we continue through Lent on our journey toward Easter, there are times when we might feel disoriented and even lost. Lent can start to feel long, and we can lose our way.
In those moments when we feel we are stumbling along our Lenten journey, it might help to remember that we are not alone. We have a community of people within our church who are on the same journey. Many of them are looking out for us, ready to offer support and happy to join us on our walk toward Easter.
Like Veronica, who wipes Jesus’ face on the way to Calvary, and Simon of Cyrene who helps Jesus carry his cross, people we might not even know – or know well – are ready to walk beside us and lighten our load. If we are lost, maybe all we need to do is go to church. It might just be that simple. And maybe we will find there is someone who needs our assistance even more than we need theirs.
“We need no wings to go in search of him but have only to look upon him present within us,” St. Teresa of Avila told us.
As we continue our walk toward Easter, may we see Jesus in the people we encounter and find solace, comfort and support in community. Like the little dog in the story, may we trust that even if we lose our path, we will find our way home.
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