In the News

The caption to this story begins with this:

Robin McCarthy, who uses a wheelchair, is to be consecrated into the Sisters for a Christian Community in the spring. Five other religious communities had rejected her.

Robin McCarthy wanted to be a nun from the time she was 7 years old. Robin says:

Another outstanding program from Krista Tippett on Speaking of Faith. The program discusses the experiences of Jean Vanier and how L'Arche began. This description is from the front page:

In this "radio pilgrimage," we take listeners into a radically different faith community that confronts our assumptions about service and diversity, and the worth of individuals.

L'Arche: A Community of Brokenness and Beauty

Liz Grossman writes about her brother's experience with church in the My Turn feature of Newsweek. Her brother Tim has Asperger syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder with "savant characteristics of autism." From the article:

I had no idea what Tim did on those Sunday afternoons, but I knew that it filled him with a kind of peace no medication or doctor ever had. After church, he'd come over to our parents' house for family dinners with a sense of calm, his eyes settled, his body slightly less rigid. He even began making a habit, one of his thousands, of giving our mom a quick hug before he'd head home.

Seeing a Smile I Had Not Known Existed

Jon Will's Aptitudes is an essay by George Will about his oldest child who was born with Down syndrome.

Jon has Down syndrome, a chromosomal defect involving varying degrees of mental retardation and physical abnormalities. Jon lost, at the instant he was conceived, one of life's lotteries, but he also was lucky: His physical abnormalities do not impede his vitality and his retardation is not so severe that it interferes with life's essential joys--receiving love, returning it, and reading baseball box scores.

This story does not necessarily reflect any kind of official policy of the Catholic Church, but a local Bishop's decision on whether or not a boy with autism can partake of Communion in an unconventional way.

The issue is that the boy will not swallow any portion of the host which must be consumed before the recipient leaves the area of reception. The article explains different perspectives on the problem from different groups as indicated by this paragraph:

"How terrible, how difficult for the family," said Denise Resnik, board chairwoman for the Southwest Autism Research Center and the mother of a boy who is dealing with autism. "We often seek comfort in our religion, and it would be nice to think the church would support them to the best degree possible." Diocese officials said they are doing their best to accommodate Matthew's needs, including hosts that are thinner than the norm, thicker, even smaller. Moran says none of the hosts has worked. Matthew will not swallow even a tiny crumb of the host or a drop of wine with any regularity, frequently spitting them out, he said.

How a Crippling Disease Produced a Compassionate Minister
News article about the Rev. Emily Richards as the new assistant Rector at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ridgefield, CT. Provides a good look at how she felt her disability "helped her become the compassionate minister she is today."

The article starts out with this great quote from Emily:

I told the vestry when I interviewed that I was looking for accessible people, not accessible buildings...

I've collected a few links since I posted last, here you go:

• Welcoming All into Faith's Fold (login required) "But what do we do with those other congregations that choose to make no effort to welcome people who are different?"
• Access ability: Giving members the opportunity to flourish"...after years of neglect, churches and religious non-profits are beginning to meet the needs of some 54 mill

Faithability has recently taken on a new look- something a little more professional. I chose an acorn for the logo- symbolic of faith being like a seed, hopefully a symbol that is not specific to any one religion, but representative of the growth that occurs through spirituality.

In other news, I received the latest copy of the Journal of Religion, Disability and Health today with what looks like some great articles on End-of-Life issues and persons with disabilities.

From American Public Media's Speaking of faith comes this riveting program titled Room for J: One Family's Struggle with Schizophrenia on one family's experience with schizophrenia, including how they see religion differently. In the program, Dan Hanson who has written Room for J discusses with his wife Sue the process of accepting their son's schizophrenia.

Interesting opinion piece by Gregory Banks wherein he states:

...I believe whatever your spiritual or non-spiritual beliefs are, there's no question that the very existence of life itself is precious, perhaps the most special thing in the entire universe, and therefore, it is indeed divine.

From Audacity Magazine