Welcomed: A Starting Place for Ministry to and with People with Special Needs

"We love the church and genuinely want to serve and be a part of it... We need the church. We need the body of Christ. We need our children to have a place at the table."

These words come from the mother of a boy who has a fairly severe sensory disorder, which makes it, literally, a painful experience to go to church.  Judging by the response her post received, it is clear that they reflect the feelings of many, many others. 

One of the first, and most important things we can do is to let these people and their families know that they are known, welcome in the Church, and that they are not alone.  Just to have the desire to include and serve these families and their loved ones is a message of hope.  These people and their families are called no less to be fully part of the Church and to participate actively in her work.  Once begun, it soon becomes clear that far from being simply an object of service and charity, there is a person who has an immense wealth to share and teach.

“… the bearer of a handicap is not simply an object of the Church’s love and service, but active and responsible participants in the work of evangelization and salvation.”

•Christifideles Laici 54

I am a firm believer that pictures speak 1000 words, and our most recent Popes have witnessed beautifully to this welcome and gift:  

“You are not alone, separated, abandoned or useless. You have been called by Christ and are his living and transparent image”  - World Day for the Sick 2013

 

“spread a culture of encounter, solidarity and hospitality towards persons with disabilities, not just asking for the proper social services but also encouraging their active participation in society.”

- Wednesday Audience June 11, 2013

 

"In the light of Christ's death and resurrection illness no longer appears as an exclusively negative event; rather, it is seen as a "visit by God", an opportunity "to release love, in order to give birth to works of love towards neighbour, in order to transform the whole of human civilization into a civilization of love"                                                               (Apostolic Letter Salvifici doloris, n. 30).

 

 

Pope St. John Paul II was a witness to his own words, being present and visible in his struggles, work and prayer, forgiving his attacker while in recovery from an assassination attempt and finally as his own body was giving way to illness.