By Tony Rossi,
Director of Communications
When America magazine’s Delaney Coyne set out to explore the Catholic Church’s ministries to people with disabilities, she found St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Cresskill, New Jersey. Its pastor, Father Samuel Citero, O.Carm., was inspired by a trip he took to Lourdes in 2015. He witnessed the work of the American Special Children’s Pilgrimage Group, which offers trips to Lourdes for people with disabilities, providing them with specialized care. After seeing the community and fellowship that people with disabilities experienced there, he suggested starting Masses in a similar style at St. Therese. As a result, the church celebrates a monthly special needs Mass that welcomes both those with disabilities, as well as the wider parish community. People with disabilities serve in all parts of the Mass, from altar servers to lectors to the choir.
When she attended one of these special needs Masses, Delaney found herself deeply touched by its life-affirming and faith-affirming spirit. During a “Christopher Closeup” interview, she said, ”People with disabilities are often marginalized and isolated, and their families struggle to find resources because they’re also isolated. This is a way of bringing people together. It’s also led to growth in their parish. They have seen membership rise from people who are joining because of this ministry. It’s focused on personal relationships. They meet in the parish hall after the fact, and it cultivates this relationship between the pastor and community.”
Delaney also spoke with Lori Weider, chair of the National Catholic Partnership on Disabilities Committee on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (NCPD). She learned there has been “significant growth” in disability ministries in the last 20 years. The U.S. bishops are making this a priority. ”The flip side,” Delaney explained, “is that it needs to trickle down to the local level. So much of this work depends on individual relationships because all people with disabilities are different. What is true for someone who might have mobility issues and be in a wheelchair, is not true for someone who might have severe sensory issues, which is not true for someone who might have severe cognitive impairments. It has to happen at the parish level.”
Pope Francis’s 2020 statement that we shouldn’t deny people with disabilities the sacraments has also been a positive factor. Delaney said, “I spoke to multiple families who did experience that with their children. People who wanted to receive the Eucharist, the pastor said, ‘No, they don’t understand enough’ or ‘We can’t prove that they understand.’ Not all will want to receive, but many do. A lot of this is a shortcoming [because people with intellectual and developmental disabilities] say that they don’t understand. But without catechesis that can help them understand, it is essentially leaving a major portion of the Church high and dry and without access to that grace that they deserve by virtue of their baptism.”
When Sarah Hart was writing original songs for her new Advent and Christmas album “All the Earth Alive Rejoicing,” she was struck by how complicated Mary and Joseph’s situation must have been in light of Mary’s pregnancy and the scandal it would cause. Sarah felt inspired to write a beautiful duet, titled “By Your Side,” in which the two reveal how much they mean to each other.
Mary sings to Joseph: “In a world of judging eyes and whispering tongues / I’m aware that it may all just be too much for you to stay. / I know this burden isn’t light / But I want to be by your side.” Joseph responds: “I confess I wrestled with such doubt / But as soon as God and I had had it out / I saw the light. / How could I run from where Love resides / So I’ll stay right here by your side.”
The Holy Family’s humble love, which reflects the humble love of God, runs as a thread throughout Sarah’s album. For instance, the track “As You Are” was inspired by Sarah’s visit to the Mansfield Correctional Institution. Sarah performed a concert at a parish in Mansfield, Ohio, so they invited her to take part in their prison ministry program. Having never played in a prison before, she agreed to lead the music for a Mass among the inmates.
During a “Christopher Closeup” interview, Sarah noted she has likely sung at 3,000 Masses in her life, but this was the most beautiful: “The men sang with such gusto, they had a choir, they had instruments. Afterwards, we were all able to talk…Some of them told me why they were there. We talked about music, they talked about their struggles... A lot of times, I think, when we as Christians go into charitable situations, we think, ‘I can’t wait to bring Jesus to these people.’ But I’m here to tell you, those guys know Jesus better than I do. They brought Jesus to me that day.”
“I wanted to write a song to assure them and anyone who’s struggling,” Sarah continued. “There’s so many people in this world who feel on the outside of church…so many people who feel excluded and outcast. Here comes Jesus again in this little form literally speaking to us, [saying], ‘Come just as you are. I don’t need anything from you. There’s not a thing you can give me except your heart.’ There’s no more beautiful concept than that. I wanted to write a song to thank [the inmates] for opening my eyes to that...It allowed me to hear the voice of God saying, ‘You see, Sarah, nobody is excluded. My desire is that all come to Me.’”
Though Christmas is a season of joy, some people are going through grief and hardship. Sarah prays that “All the Earth Alive Rejoicing” speaks to them as well. She concluded, “Christmas for so many is a difficult time because we’ve lost people that we love. Statistically, suicide rates tend to go up during December and post-Christmas because for some who are alone, it is a very difficult time. But I hope that the messages contained in the record [reach listeners]: [God’s] love is for all, all are welcome, come as you are, and especially, you aren’t alone. Even though we can be lonely, it is not the same thing as being alone. In Christ, in God, in this gift that He’s given us, we aren’t alone.”mail@christophers.org
For free copies of the Christopher News Note FINDING YOUR WAY BACK TO GOD, write: The Christophers, 264 West 40th Street, Room 603, New York, NY 10018; or e-mail: mail@christophers.org
Comments