Almost every Sunday morning, three men from a nearby group home for adults with disabilities come to worship at the congregation I serve. It took me a little time to feel comfortable greeting and chatting with them. This feels strange to admit, since I have a disability myself. Why should I feel uncomfortable around them, and expect everyone to feel comfortable around me? What could I do? I could take a note from my own experiences.
I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t want you to see or notice that I have a disability. Nor do I want others to view my disability as something negative or to be pitied. My life is no more or less full because I use a wheelchair. And that’s when the light went on for me. Perhaps, the same is true for these three faithful neighbors who show up each week to worship at the church I serve.
Now, with joy and sincerity, I get to proclaim God’s grace and love to them when I say, “This is the body of Christ, given for you” as I place the bit of communion bread in their hand.
This message is an excerpt of “A place for all God’s children” by Lisa Heffernan in the February 2019 issue of Café. Today we remember Catherine of Siena, theologian, who died in 1380.
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