Deacon Dan Wright

Increase Our Faith: Sermon for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…” Perhaps faith is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Christian religion. We seem intuitively to know that we need faith. It’s something that all people who desire to live a godly life long for—it speaks to our deepest inner being—but what is it really that we desire? Is it that we should have all our doubts put to rest? Even the greatest of saints had their doubts. Or perhaps it’s that we long to see just one great miracle in our lifetimes. “ Oh, If I just had the faith! Then everything would be alright.”

The readings we have for today are clearly about faith, and to really get the message we need to look not only at today’s readings, but also we should consider where we have been liturgically in the past couple weeks.

Last Sunday we heard about the rich man and Lazarus, and how Lazarus laid suffering in the rich man’s door. He must have stepped over Lazarus every morning! The week before that we heard of the dishonest steward and those who trample the poor through cheating and dishonesty. Actually all these readings, along with the ones we have today are all about faith. Faith, or the lack thereof as it may be, becomes evident in the things we do and in the things that we fail to do.

What we sometimes need, when it comes to faith, is an eye opener. In today’s gospel Jesus provides the disciples with such an eye opener. I grew up with a literal interpretation of the parable of the mustard seed. I was told that if I had only a little faith, miracles would happen on a daily basis. In my Protestant evangelical upbringing I heard it all the time. Faith had to do with everything from gaining wealth and prosperity to overcoming incurable illnesses. Mustard seed faith was the key to everything. All one could want was possible by having mustard seed faith, or at least that’s what they told me.

I have to be honest. I never had that kind of supernatural faith. However, I did know of several Pentecostal preachers who could make people pass out by just touching them—of course this kind of thing was always suspect of trickery or prearrangement. Perhaps the faithful just knew what to do when the preacher touched them. Perhaps he knew if they had just the right very deep and intense prayerful look they were candidates for being “slain in the spirit.”

I did have someone pass out while I was preaching a couple years ago, but that was probably caused something else. I suspect it had more to do with a missed insulin shot than with supernatural power issuing from my words. My problem with faith when I was young wasn’t that I didn’t believe. Quite the contrary actually, it was just that no matter how much I desired it, regardless of how hard I prayed, no matter how much I contorted my heart and face, it wasn’t in my power to make the miraculous occur.

Nevertheless, I do wholeheartedly believe that faith leads us to realize unimaginable possibilities; that is, it leads to realistic possibilities that push the envelope in terms of what we would ordinarily consider. If we believe in something, something real and attainable in this world, and are willing to put forth the effort there’s a universe of pure possibility waiting. That’s a good thing, and I’m actually a lot more inclined to think of the mustard seed faith concept of my youth in this way nowadays. It’s the mystery of the power of God that makes the realization of faith possible. Not that it’s beyond our understanding, but that faith brings about a holy and transcendent experience. That’s the real meaning of mystery. It’s something that transcends what we would ordinarily expect.

In today’s gospel the disciples, somewhat impetuously, ask Jesus to increase their faith. As he often does, Jesus responds with hyperbole or overstatement to get his point across. The biblical literalists of my youth might have a hard time seeing it this way. In our translation that we heard today Jesus tell the disciples “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed” you could command this tree to be planted in the sea and it would obey. The Greek verb “have” in this section of the gospel is rendered in a tense, which older translations render as “had” in the sense of habitually having something. It is as though Jesus is saying to the disciples, somewhat accusatorily, “You say increase our faith, but I ask exactly what faith is it that I am to increase? If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,” he tells them, then “you could command the tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea.”

As they often do, the disciples are caught presuming something and they have to be corrected. In their being reproved—about assuming to have faith to begin with—we find something key to understanding faith. Jesus goes on to say, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’"

We are to do what we have been commanded to do. It seems rather simple doesn’t it? We are to obey the commandments and love. For me this is the key not only to understanding today’s scripture but also the readings for past couple weeks. It’s quite interesting that in each lesson the actions of faith they are cast in connection with how we interact with those whose lives are affected by extreme negative conditions outside their control: poverty, or as the case is today with the Habakkuk reading, how we react in the face of violence. No doubt these are all concerns quite relevant to us in our world today. What are we to do when we come face-to-face with those whose lives are affected by forces outside their control? How do we react to them? The manner in which we treat others determines the reality of faith much, much more than the sheer mystery of the miraculous.

I want to close by reflecting on something I became aware of this past week. It’s not to accuse anyone. After all we all have room to grow. I like to think that we encounter God each day, and each day brings us a test of faith. I have a friend, a devout person, who comes to church with her young daughter. Her daughter has autism. The child has behaviors typical for someone with autism. She can sometimes be a little noisy, but nothing too bad. Certainly she is less noisy than crying babies, who we tolerate very well. My friend’s daughter is a person who understands that we receive Jesus in Eucharist. I taught her that myself. Just last week I learned that someone who came to church late sat near where the child and her mother were in the back of the church. When the person noticed the child making a slight noise she told the mother, “Your child is distracting me, make her be quiet.” The mother explained, “My child has autism, she can’t really help it.” Again the person said, “Make her be quiet.” So my friend took her child and left Mass.

The things in life that require the response of faith come to us in many guises, be it Lazarus in the doorway calling out for help, the poor cheated by the rich, or the violence of our times. Perhaps it may the voice of a child in our midst with a disability. We only begin to reach out and take a hold of faith; we only begin to increase it, when we allow it to cause us to act when we encounter injustice. Faith is truly faith when we act in the lives of those who suffer. The mulberry tree will indeed someday be planted in the sea, but that will happen only when we decide to repair our world.

New Year's Homily: Being Blessing

We begin the year with a blessing, and whether it is a coincidence from the lectionary, or something planned, what better day is there to receive a blessing than the first day of the New Year?

The Lord Bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!

So we start the year not only with a blessing, but with something of an invitation to look back on the past year and consider where our blessings have been. Perhaps we consider the blessing of being with family at Christmastime. We might also consider other blessings. Perhaps there was a wedding last year, or maybe a new baby came into the family.

Following along with scripture we consider the blessing that is Mary’s baby. We might also be inclined to consider the theological blessing, of which St. Paul writes to the Galatians: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law…”

On this Solemnity of Mary, who we call God-bearer or the Mother of God, we consider the blessing that she received, and we might pause to bear in mind how this blessing must have seemed. A young woman, still a teenage girl, pregnant without being married, gives birth--barely indoors--and exhausted from labor she puts her baby to sleep in a feed trough because there was no other place to lay him down besides the ground strewn with straw and dung. 

The first witnesses, we are told, were the shepherds. In those days there wasn’t much romance in being a shepherd. Being a shepherd probably carried something of a social stigma. Shepherds were on the bottom rung of life; they were the ones below all others. Yet God chose to reveal the glory of the angels to the poor shepherds. God chose, in the miracle of incarnation, to be born to a young teenage couple who were the talk of the town in a very negative way. God chose the poverty of a stable and a feed trough to reveal blessing.

As we move into the New Year our eyes turn to the future. I’d like it to be a year of blessing for myself and my family. I want my children to do well in school. I want a year filled with health and happiness for my wife and me. I’d like to have successes at work, and I pray for the blessing of a mild summer with plentiful rain. I have my New Year’s resolution list and a positive attitude. Still, I realize that for others the future might not seem to have much hope at all. Others are entering the year with sadness. For many there is no cause to be positive. Others are entering the year with poverty, hunger, and violence.  Where is the blessing for them?

I recently read an article from a professor who works at a Christian university here in Texas. He says that he often hears from students who say they feel as if they need to work on their relationship with God. They believe they need to spend more time in prayer and reflection. He says he likes to direct them instead to work on their relationships with other people. He says that too often we get taken in by a bait and switch and go after any number of so-called “spiritual” substitutes to bring ourselves closer to God rather than doing so by working on just being a decent human being to others.

The point that I take from this is to ask myself how I can bring about blessing to those who seem to have so little of it in their lives. Really, when I consider it, I realize that it’s too big for me to do alone.  I have to join with others to bring blessing into the world, but the decision to do it has to start with each one of us personally. We have to act ourselves; we have to focus, and we have to usher in the blessing for others. I think soon we will find ourselves joined by others or joining with them to bring about true blessing.

In our world today there are others with whom we must stand. It’s likely that we won’t have much in common with them. They’ll be different from us in many ways: maybe in language, color, religion, disability, or in their economic status. For them life has not been a blessing, but we, as Christians, as people of God, are the ones who are called to be the bringers of blessing.

Blessing involves a transformation, both within ourselves and one that we enact upon the world. To be a part of the blessing above all other blessings we go to the teenage parents, Mary and Joseph in the stable with the poor and outcast shepherds, and we stand and gaze upon the hope of the world lying in a feed trough.

Rejoice! He Comes Bringing Health and Salvation

This Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, is the Sunday we call "Gaudete," which translated from the Latin means "Rejoice." Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice. Today is the Sunday that signifies joy, both when we rejoice as we prepare for the coming of Christmas less than two weeks from now, and as we prepare and welcome the Kingdom of God already present in our midst, which will be fulfilled in its entirety when Christ returns in glory in the time when all things are finally complete.

Certainly we feel a heightened sense of excitement about things as we light the rose-colored candle of the Advent wreath and don the rose vestments for one of only two times in the liturgical year. This Sunday's celebration gives us a good opportunity to reflect on what there really is to be all that excited about, other of course than the imminent arrival of Christmas.

In order to meaningfully interpret the readings we have for today, and really any time we study scripture, there are at least two approaches we can take, and always--of course--we should seek the guidance of the Church's teaching. We keep in mind that what we look for is a living and dynamic encounter with the word of God. First, we might attempt to understand or step into the historical situation. What was it that Jesus or the prophets really wanted to impart to their audience at that time? What were the human authors attempting to affirm? Then next we can ask how the scriptures bear relevance to our lives in the world in which we live now? What does God want to reveal to us at the close of the year 2010?

Overall, something that stands out clearly in the readings today, which has the power to transcend history and time, is the theme of transformation. There is a clear prophecy of and fulfillment of transformation. Jesus says, "Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them." The prophecies of Isaiah were being fulfilled. Transformation and the dawn of a new era were beginning. Healing was taking place, as well as a new way of thinking about those who needed it, but not without challenge. We know that Jesus challenged the attitude and beliefs of his contemporaries. His challenge is for us too in our times. I've learned that the message is right when we feel that it makes us question our attitudes and beliefs us in some way. Often I feel challenged myself during my own homily because the message applies to me as well as everyone else.

During the time of Jesus there was a prevalent punishment concept of disease and disability. It was thought that if someone had a disease or disability it was because he or she had sinned, or even because his or her ancestor or ancestors had sinned. We might think that in our enlightened times we have moved far away from this kind of thinking. However, a good bit of modern scholarship has been devoted to understanding the punishment concept of disease in relation to, for example, the AIDS epidemic. Another example is how the word previously used to describe intellectual disability has come to be used as an insensitive insult. Unfortunately, the punishment concept is still with us and sometimes we aren't aware that it remains in our attitudes though not necessarily spoken or even fully realized.

Without a doubt, Jesus came to do away with such notions as the punishment concept of disease. He challenged the attitudes about sin and sickness. It's part of what we rejoice in this Sunday, and certainly the source of joy through the ages, that Jesus really is a savior in that he not only heals us and makes us whole, but he sets us free from the shame and guilt that binds us. Each of us has the opportunity to leave the weight of guilt behind and be reasonable, rational beings who part company with unreasonable and unhealthy ways of thinking.

A good friend of mine recently, actually it was my wife, asked me to consider the possibility that in our times the true miracle in healing, as promised by Jesus, will take place in our attitudes when we encounter people who have disabilities. Rather than seeing them as different or "other" than us, or even as "special," in the healed or transformed world we accept disability as natural. Also our attitudes change in that we don't mind so much adjusting our environment so that people of all levels of ability can be included. Perhaps we will come to see that fair does not always mean equal but that it requires us to go above and beyond the expectations of equality.

As I was growing up, and at a time when I began to seriously consider things of the faith, I came across the idea that salvation has mostly to do with health, or put another way, health is the metaphor for salvation. We're all familiar with the tent revivals where the main attraction is to see people healed by faith. Now certainly the healing ministry of Jesus, even in our times, should not be undervalued, even though we understand salvation as entailing much more than just health. Still, there's a lot of validity for us in our times in understanding health in the context of salvation and as part of the Church's mission. Health is so important that the Catholic bishops speak of healthcare not just as a commodity but as a basic human right that they say is included in "the first right of the human person, the right to life."

From a scriptural point of view, health and healing stand for the kind of transformation that we celebrate in the joy of Gaudete Sunday. It's a sign of mature faith to see salvation as an overall picture of a transformed world in which there is true progress. However, undoubtedly, in our times there are great challenges and obstacles to overcome. Often these obstacles are within us in the form of a particular mindset, attitude, or belief system—especially as it has to do with the way we experience and treat others.

As we move into Christmastime and a new year we have the opportunity not to become distracted but to become intent on healing the wounds of disunity and distrust that abound. More than ever before we are in the place where we may counter the forces of unbelief by embracing joy, healing, forgiveness, transformation, and the progress that forms us into the full, mature, stature of Christ who comes to save the world and make all things new.

Where Teaching and Diaconate Meet

It's not often that I find myself in the news. Certainly with the kind of news we might see nowadays this can be considered a good thing I suppose. 

However, recently I was honored to have been selected to be profiled on one of the local Austin news programs for my work as a teacher. During the interview I was asked to explain what a deacon is and does. My comments about it were somewhat brief, so I was delightfully surprised to find that once the editing was done my role as a deacon took the forefront. 

I share this positive human interest story with you, and as always I seek your continued prayers that the work I do truly will always make a difference. Again, I am honored--but perhaps even more I am humbled and called to an even greater degree of Christian service.

Eight Year Old Autistic Student Arrested

Here is a mind-boggling story if I ever saw one.  Having formerly been an elementary special education teacher (now working in a high school), I couldn't help but feel appalled.  Furthermore, being the parent of 10-year-old who has a very similar condition as the child in the news story brought it painfully close to home.  I sympathize with the child's parents.

The mother of an 8-year-old autistic girl who was arrested after a scuffle with her teachers said it was horrifying to watch her daughter be led away in handcuffs from her northern Idaho elementary school.

Police in Bonner County, Idaho, charged the girl, Evelyn Towry, with battery after the arrest Friday at Kootenai Elementary School.

Even though prosecutors dismissed the case Tuesday, the family is considering legal action against the school. They say their daughter was physically restrained to the point of causing bruises and is now tormented by memories of the incident.

Spring Towry said she got to the school Friday just in time to see 54-pound Evelyn -- who was diagnosed at age 5 with Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism -- being walked to a police car with two officers at her side.

"She started screaming 'Mommy, I don't want to go! What are batteries? What are batteries?'" Towry said. "She didn't even know what she was arrested for."

Towry, who lives in Ponderay, said Evelyn told her that she had been refused entry into a school Christmas party that had been delayed until after the holidays because of a string of snow days, because she refused to take off her beloved "cow costume" -- a hoodie with cow ears and a tail.

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From the viewpoint of being both a parent and a teacher I can't begin see how things got so far out of hand that the police had to be called.  Typically school officials--both administrators and special education teachers--are required to undergo a yearly training to learn the warning signs of, and responses to, behavior that's about to get out of control.  Typically also, there would be a crisis team or perhaps several individuals trained in non-violent means of addressing such behavior. 

Often kids with an autism spectrum disorder will grow strongly attached to objects.  It was likely that this was the case with the girl's cow costume (it sounds like it may have only been a jacket).  Taking something away from a child with autism can amount to taking away something as important as a body part in the estimation of the child.  It's difficult to understand why there wasn't awareness of this.

I know that it's easy to sit back and say what could have been or should have been done, and I know well the difficulties that educators face in working with children who have cognitive and neurological disabilities.  However, I also know that when there are students who are prone to acting out their behavior, whether it's because of communication difficulties or something else, there must be a plan in place to address it, and I've never even remotely heard of the police having to be called to handle an 8-year-old who has a mental disability. 

I find it hard to believe that no one knew the student well enough to have such a plan in place and to realize that the student's response to an either/or ultimatum would not be the same as it would with a neurotypical child.

Perhaps what bothers me most is that somewhere there is someone--someone in authority--who believes that the correct response to the disability-related behavior of a second or maybe third grader is to have her arrested for it and charged with a crime.

Secondary Drowning

This week I have actually been preparing myself to blog this summer on topics other than autism and disability--I still have the intention of writing on scripture and spirituality this summer; however, another story caught my eye--one that had a tragic ending. 

I'm including this on ddw.org for a couple reasons: first, I want to create awareness this summer of something that many, if not most of us, may not have been aware.  Secondly, I believe as Christians we share a spiritual good when we pray for the dead and for their family members who mourn.

I don't know that it really has much of anything to do with the story that the little boy had autism--it's just that those of us who are parents of autistic children share a special connection that goes as deep as the heart.  It only reminds me of all the times through the passing of summers that I've watched my Dominic splashing around at the pool.  I know that kids with autism have to be watched--protected--more than typically developing kids.  Sometimes, watching doesn't help.  I guess that's why I always ask for the guardian angels to be near:

As Cassandra Jackson watched her 10-year-old son Johnny splash around in their neighborhood pool last week, she had no reason to believe anything was wrong -- let alone that her son was slowly drowning.

"He seemed to be fine," Jackson, 41, told ABCNEWS.com from her home in Goose Creek, S.C. "I noticed nothing out of the ordinary, other than him taking a little bit of water in and coughing and then calming down."

Jackson estimated that Johnny had been in the pool for 45 minutes and had been wearing floatation devices on each arm, in addition to being monitored by an adult in the pool, as well as herself and a friend watching from pool chairs nearby.

But less than two hours after getting out of the pool, Johnny had defecated in his pants twice and was complaining of being tired.

After being bathed and dressing himself, Johnny walked to his bed unaided, leading his mother to believe that he was simply tired from playing in the water.

But shortly after leaving him to nap, Jackson discovered her son unconscious and his face covered in a foam-like substance.

"My friend went back into the room where Johnny was sleeping and noticed what appeared to be cotton balls stuffed in his nose," Jackson said of what turned out to be the foam from his nose and mouth. "She asked if I put them there and I said no -- I went in and saw him and screamed for help.

"I rolled him over and his body was very limp and I realized he'd soiled himself again and was very purplish-blue looking," said Jackson, who then called 9-1-1. "His tongue was really swollen, too."

Johnny suffered from cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, his mother said, and was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad examined Johnny's body after the incident and told ABCNEWS.com that the preliminary autopsy showed the cause of death was asphyxiation due to drowning. Rhoad added that the boy had a lot of water in his lungs.

While Johnny had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and autism, there is no reason to believe that either condition had anything to do with his death, the coroner said.

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Johnny, sleep in peace.  May the Lord Jesus who loved little children hold you forever in his arms.

Autistic Student Voted Out of Class

Here's another one--must be the season.  I believe that as Christians we have a moral responsibility to promote justice, which means advocating and taking a stand where and when we find injustices.  Part of that is working to create awareness also, and to point out injustices where they occur.

Often we must accept the difficult task of being pushed far out of our comfort zone to protect the rights and human dignity of the weakest members of our society.  When it comes down to where I want to stand on the day of judgment, I'd rather have it said that I opted to take the side of the poor little ones--whatever the cost.

Officials say they've reassigned a kindergarten teacher whose Port St. Lucie, Fla., class "voted out" a 5-year-old boy who is being tested for a form of autism.

After the boy misbehaved last week, teacher Wendy Portillo "decided to bring him in front of the class and let the other kids tell him what they didn't like about him, kind of ridiculed him," Michelle Steele, a police spokeswoman, tells the Palm Beach Post.

The newspaper says students then voted 14-2 in favor of having the boy removed from Portillo's classroom.

"He was incredibly upset," Melissa Barton, the boy's mother, says in an interview with the Port St. Lucie News. "The only friend he has ever made in his life was forced to do this."

A school spokeswoman says Portillo has been removed from the classroom pending the outcome of an internal review.

Source

Adam's Pew

Following my post this morning on the story of Adam Race being banned from his parish, I was alerted to an organized response already underway called Adam's Pew.

You may follow the link above or read the excerpt below.  Part of the story that I did not include in my blog  earlier today hinted that something was underway already in the way of support for the Race family. One family, the Rupps, brought their autistic daughter from St. Paul to occupy the pew where Adam normally sat. 

Libby Rupp reportedly said that she feels that the case against Adam is mostly about not understanding autism.  While she said that she can understand why some people might be uncomfortable around Adam, she never felt in danger around him. 

I have to reiterate, having been around people with autism for a number of years now, that much of what is needed is simply understanding, and perhaps a shadowing ministry in the parish.  For going on four years now my wife and I have provided a similar ministry, although it is for providing religious education for children with cognitive disabilities, including autism, rather than shadowing at Mass.

Indeed tolerance and understanding will go a long way, and it is true that autism does not typically manifest itself as a small boy flapping his hands and talking quietly to himself.  Sometimes people with autism are loud; sometimes they urinate on themselves or in a public place depending on their severity.  Sometimes they hit others and sometimes they bolt and run.  I've seen it all, and I've seen it all in my son too.  Nevertheless, I want to welcome people with autism at my parish.  I want it to be known that kids with disabilities can serve alongside me at the altar--and it's true that they do even now.

Last Sunday before Mass started I noticed a child in the congregation on the very back row wearing what looked like sound-proof headphones.  She was having a royal fit as we were getting started and she continued to scream right through my homily, but funny enough people didn't seem to be bothered and neither was I.  God must granted us all a bit of peace.  I'm really glad that child was there.  Word has gotten out that St. Thomas More parish is autism friendly--I pray we keep it that way.

Here's the excerpt from Adam's Pew:

Adam's Pew is a response to the highly publicized May 2008 story in which Adam Race, a 13-year-old boy with autism, was banned from his church.  Adam’s parents received a restraining order from their home parish of 12 years.  Every Sunday for years, his family sat in the last pew.  This pew was reserved, at Adam’s family’s request.  The arrangement lessened any disruptions Adam’s symptoms may have produced.

When news of the restraining order spread, several families of children with autism pledged to occupy the pew every Sunday until the Race family was restored to their faith community.  It will take most of the families several hours to reach the Church in the small town of Bertha, Minnesota.  Currently, the restraining order remains in effect and the Race family will soon enter into mediation.  Their goal is to once again become welcome in their home parish.

Adam Race’s story has inspired passionate discussion among countless people regarding the various facets of this case.  Nationally and beyond, many families are not attending church because they don’t feel welcome.  The story’s quick spread points to a profound need to establish an atmosphere of welcome and acceptance in churches everywhere.  Thus, Project: Adam's Pew was created. 

Without much planning, effort or cost, Project: Adam’s Pew is a simple tool for church leaders.  Through broadening awareness, a church can reach out to those feeling previously unwelcome and those hesitant to attend church services due a family member’s disability.  Project: Adam’s Pew is not meant to replace or compete with other inclusion programs developed by many denominations throughout the country.

Catholic Parish Bans Autistic Child

After a month-long break from blogging to finish up school year work and prepare for my summer break, I anticipated that would return with something on a more uplifting note.  As I read the story posted below, my emotions ranged from deep sadness to outrage.  The words of Jesus from Sunday's gospel echoed in soul, "Not all who say to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven."

Among the many things to find truly appalling in the story, the fact that the child's mom was issued a citation on Mother's Day for taking him to Mass stands out.  Tears should pour from heaven.

BERTHA, Minn. -- Carol Race thinks it's important for her 13-year-old son to be in church on Sundays for Catholic Mass.

Leaders of the Church of St. Joseph once felt the same way, but not anymore. They say Race's autistic son Adam is disruptive and his erratic behavior threatens the safety of other parishioners.

The northern Minnesota church has obtained a restraining order to keep Adam away, an action that has been deeply hurtful to the Race family and has brought them support from parents of other autistic children.

"My son is not dangerous," Carol Race said. The church's action is "about a certain community's fears of him. Fears of danger versus actual danger," she said.

In court papers, church leaders say the danger is real. The Rev. Daniel Walz wrote in his petition for the restraining order that Adam--who already is more than 6 feet tall and weighs more than 225 pounds--has hit a child, has nearly knocked over elderly parishioners while bolting from his pew, has spit at people and has urinated in the church.

"His behavior at Mass is extremely disruptive and dangerous," wrote Walz. "Adam is 13 and growing, so his behaviors grow increasingly difficult for his parents to manage."

Carol Race said Walz's claims are exaggerated.

"He's never actually injured anyone," she said. "He's never knocked down anyone. He's never urinated on anyone or spit on anyone."

Carol Race was cited for attending church May 11 in violation of the restraining order, and faces a hearing Monday. She says she can't afford a lawyer and will defend herself in court. A lay mediator is scheduled to meet with her and church board members on Wednesday.

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. It is more severe in some people than others. Adam has limited verbal skills.

Walz did not return calls seeking comment, but Jane Marrin, who works for the Diocese of St. Cloud and is acting as a spokeswoman for the parish, said the church board tried working with the Races to find "reasonable accommodations." That included offering a video feed of Mass that could be watched in the church basement.

The family refused all suggestions, she said.

"It's a difficult issue," Marrin said. "There are no easy answers."

Carol Race dismissed the church's suggestion that Adam watch a video feed in the church basement, saying that "does not have the same status as attending Mass. Otherwise we could all just sit home and watch it on TV and not bother to come in."

"It's considered a sin in the Catholic church not to attend Mass on Sundays and every holy day of obligation," she said. "And that's what this is about. I'm just trying to fulfill my obligations."

Adam is one of five children. The family's home in nearby Eagle Bend has separate study rooms so the other children can read books and use crayons that Adam could otherwise destroy.

Carol said Adam has two favorite spots in the house, the prayer room and the kitchen table. "He likes to eat," she said, laughing.

Adam is prone to anxiety attacks. Carol said some of those outbursts force members of the family to sit on him to calm him down, or restrain his hands and feet with a strip of felt.

In his court petition, Walz said that after one service Adam got into another family's car, started it and revved up the engine while there were people in front of the vehicle.

"Adam's continued presence on parish grounds not only endangers the parishioners, it is disruptive to the devout celebration of the Eucharist," Walz wrote. "I have repeatedly asked John and Carol to keep Adam from church; they have refused to do so.

"In fact, Carol told our parish council that she would have to be dragged from church in handcuffs if I tried to keep Adam from attending Mass," he wrote.

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There is a lot more that can be done in the way of offering support than forcing a kid to watch Mass on a video from the basement.  Forcing someone to sit in the basement is not a reasonable accommodation by any stretch of the imagination--It's discrimination.

As someone who works daily with autistic teenagers, and as the parent of an autistic child, I have several questions.  Has the diocese, consulted an autism expert, or has anyone done as little as having contacted the school to discuss what support they use in the classroom?  Did they consider paying a trained person to sit with him (there are people who do this--I know several)?  Has anything been done to educate parishioners about autism?

As my wife was leaving for work this morning I could sense her sadness over having learned about the story.  I told her, "Look at it like this, it's another diocese--not us."  She was quick to correct me, "No, it is us.  This hurts the whole Church."  Indeed, when this kind of thing happens it not only hurts the family who must suffer through the ordeal of not being understood--not loved--and not accepted.  It also hurts their parish, their diocese, and when it makes the news it hurts us all.  On a spiritual level it hurts us regardless of whether it is news or not.  It is a situation that cries out for justice.

I think it is interesting to juxtapose this story with the fact that in 1941 young Joseph Ratzinger had a 14-year-old cousin--a few months younger than he was--who had Down Syndrome.  The cousin was taken away by Nazi authorities and presumably killed under Hitler's euthanasia program for the disabled. I know what John Paul II had to say about people with cognitive disabilities.  In light of the incident with his cousin, I'd like to see Pope Benedict also say something.

In the past, at the masses where I do not serve at the altar, my wife and I have chosen to sit in the back of the church with our children, including our autistic son--I think from now on we'll sit in the front.

 

Wrongly Creating a Connection

In the days before pro wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and child and hanged himself, the couple argued over whether he should stay home more to take care of their mentally retarded 7-year-old son, an attorney for the wrestling league said Wednesday.

“I think it’s fair to say that the subject of caring for that child was part of what made their relationship complicated and difficult, and it’s something they were both constantly struggling with,” said Jerry McDevitt, an attorney for World Wrestling Entertainment. “We do know it was a source of stress and consternation.”

McDevitt said the wrestling organization learned from the couple’s friends and relatives that the Benoits were struggling with where to send the boy to school since he had recently finished kindergarten.

He also said Benoit’s wife didn’t want him to quit wrestling, but she “wanted him to be at home more to care for the kid. She’d say she can’t take care of him by herself when he was on the road.”

The child suffered from a rare medical condition called Fragile X Syndrome, an inherited form of mental retardation often accompanied by autism, McDevitt said.

Read the whole story here

What is predictable about the above story is how the press was quick to make a connection between Benoit's actions and his child's disability.  Does it somehow make Benoit's crime less terrible or even excusable that he and his wife had to care for a child with a cognitive disability?  Exactly what is WWE trying to say?  Don't say it's the steroids?  Don't blame wrestling?

While parenting a child with disabilities has great difficulties, as I can attest, what happened was not the child's fault.  Undoubtedly, as a society on the whole, we often fail at supporting the families of children with disabilities.  However, the case of the Benoit killings has nothing to so with the availability of services.  Nor did it have anything to do with the child's disability.  The point to keep in mind is that there should be no more sympathy shown toward someone who murders his child who has a disability than one who murders his or her child without a disability.

Researcher Dick Sobsey has documented an increase in the murders of children by their parents...in relation to well-publicized and sympathetic coverage of the murders of children with disabilities. Articles about the alleged murder of a person with a disability should not contain more about the disability than about the victim as a person.

...what will be accomplished by saying that murderous feelings toward disabled children are common? Will this increase the acceptance of children with disabilities in our schools and neighborhoods? Or will the public conclude that kids *that* horrible are better locked up? What is the end result when parents say feelings of murder or desperation are "the norm?" How will it affect the small percentage of parents struggling with the despair? Will it give them strength or help them leap off the abyss?

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