In the logic of proclaiming the Gospel to one another, where each person's gifts are placed at the service of all, I can say with joy that my personal friendship with people with disabilities and their families has helped me grow in humanity and has strengthened my faith and the joy of priestly ministry. Thanks to this friendship, I learned in my youth to accept my limits and to overcome a shyness tied to my character. It pushed me to welcome and listen to others in their diversity, helped me clothe myself in humility, be authentic, keep my promises, and learn to laugh at myself.
In my priestly ministry, all of this made it easier for me to understand and approach different forms of poverty. It trained me to welcome every person, overcoming the resistance and fears that are sometimes possible and even inevitable. Friendship with the poor helps us not to stop at the surface; it pushes us to open our hearts so that the dignity and hidden beauty of the person can shine through. On a pastoral level, I learned to use different forms of communication, especially in catechesis and liturgy. On a level of faith, this friendship supported me in persevering through trials and in learning to wait for God's timing. Simple prayer, expressed in a few Gospel-inspired words and sometimes through uncoordinated movements of the body, filled me with inner joy, as I almost glimpsed in these people a sacramental presence of Christ.
From the parents, I learned never to give up and to share their same trust in allowing their children to go on holiday with friends whose availability and faithfulness they had come to appreciate. Some parents made a wonderful journey of growth in faith, moving from unsettling questions to discovering the preciousness of their child in the eyes of God and the Church. The joy on their faces when their children showed progress in language and personal independence was indescribable. Some of them were able to step out of their own shell to care for other people's children as well.
When we tried to invite other families to our gatherings—because what the Lord was building among us needed to be shared with others—we found that their testimony reached people's hearts sooner and better than our words as priests ever could. Over the years, the proclamation of the Word of God to people with disabilities has borne wonderful fruit. Some of them, like Pasquale and Efrem, discovered their place in the church as altar servers. They carry out this role with perseverance and passion. They are not afraid to voice their own prayers during the Eucharistic celebration, and they make themselves available for other services in the parish community, which they feel to be a second family. When I celebrated the sacrament of Reconciliation with them and their families, I witnessed their deep participation and their joy at being forgiven by the Lord.
The Church is called to go out from herself and go towards the peripheries, not only geographical ones but also existential ones: those of the mystery of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance... of thought, of every form of misery. When the Church does not go out of herself to evangelize, she becomes self-referential and falls ill... A self-referential Church wants to keep Jesus Christ within herself and not let him out. It is sad to see so many closed parishes; we must go out, we must go towards others to bring the light and joy of our faith. We must always go out with the love and tenderness of God.
Pope Francis, March 2013
I remember this episode from when I was parish priest in Monopoli. Pasquale, the altar server, lived in a family home run by the Acli near the church. One evening, quite late, he came to the rectory to ask me to come to him because, having had a falling-out with a friend that turned even violent, he wanted my help to reconcile. He often asked me to hear his confession, because he had experienced the grace of God's mercy.
From this experience, our friends have learned to make demanding and radical choices. One couple adopted a boy with a disability. Many speak of this friendship as a way of learning Gospel compassion. You go to give, but you realize you receive even more, especially in your heart. The faithfulness and gratitude that these young people with disabilities show strengthen the bonds between us. Some young friends have rediscovered their faith. The presence of this group within the parish community has made it easier to welcome other people with disabilities, and some friends have made themselves available to accompany children with disabilities through the sacraments of Christian initiation.
Fr. Vito Palmisano Fasano
Seas and Volcanoes
