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Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
Inclusion in Worship
Junior High School Guide
THE GIFTS WE HAVE
Sean has been good friends with
Matthew for almost nine years. In
kindergarten, when Matthew first came
to this school, Sean became his
"buddy." Matthew happens to have
cerebral palsy. He may fall when he
walks. Sean says sometimes it's hard
for Matthew to keep up with the other
children. But, if you put a basketball in
Matthew's hands and watch him shoot
from the free throw line, he'll put the
school's star player to shame. Matthew
has different gifts. Sean has come to
understand this through his friendship
over the years. Sean doesn't see
Matthew as a person with disabilities,
rather he knows that Matthew is differently-abled.
Remember, we all have things that we
can do and things that we cannot do.
List five gifts or talents that you feel
you have.
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List five things that are difficult for
you to do.
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The dictionary defines disability as .lack
of competent power, strength or
physical or mental ability. Some people,
like Matthew, have a physical disability.
They might use a wheelchair, crutches
or other aids to move about. Some
people have difficulty with vision or
hearing. Most physical disabilities are
visible, ones that we can see. Other
disabilities are invisible, like cancer,
diabetes, arthritis, depression and
others.
A YOUNG GIRL’S GIFTS
Paige brought many gifts to her parish
community during her battle with
leukemia, a kind of cancer. She shared
gifts of love, hope, joy and courage.
A few days before starting first grade,
Paige was diagnosed with cancer.
Sometimes people don't think of cancer
as a disability, but it can be very
disabling. Often Paige used a
wheelchair when she was too weak to
walk. It was difficult for her to remember
things she learned. During her whole
first grade year, she was only able to
make it to school for a total of seven
days.
While Paige was away, all the children
in her school were taught about different
types of cancer, the treatments Paige
was going through and the effects from
these treatments. They learned that
Paige would be wearing a mask when
she returned to school. This was not
because the other students would catch
her disease, but rather to prevent Paige
from getting any germs. When Paige
finally was able to join her classmates
for the last few days of first grade, they
all wore masks with her so she wouldn.t
feel out of place.
The following year, Cardinal Bernardin
went on television to tell the people of
Chicago about his cancer. Paige
immediately wrote him a letter because
she didn.t want him to be sad. She sent
him pictures of herself when she was
bald from her chemotherapy treatments,
and after the treatments as her hair
began to grow back. Paige wanted the
Cardinal to know that his hair would
grow back, too. He sent her a letter back
thanking her for her concern and
delighting in the fact that someone had
hope for his hair growing back.
Paige.s battle with cancer ended when
she was 9 years old. Elizabeth, a high
school student and a friend, wrote this
about her, .Even though she was only 9,
Paige.s strong spirit gave me inspiration.
She still gives me hope in knowing that I
can face anything because Paige did.
ACTIVITY . MEDIEVAL SHIELD
In medieval times, knights used shields as protection when they went into battle and
also so others would know who they were. These shields had family crests and other
important symbols on them. Write your family name on your shield. Add three symbols
to your shield: one symbol for what gives you hope, another symbol for something that
you’ve done that took courage, and finally, a symbol for something that you’ve seen
someone else do that took courage.
One in five Americans has a disability. Most of us probably know someone like
Matthew or Paige. Cardinal Bernardin invited the churches in the Archdiocese of
Chicago to begin “Inclusion Awareness Days” to heighten our awareness to how
welcoming we are in our churches to those with disabilities. The Cardinal said, “When
we open our hearts and our community to the gifts each person brings, we are all
strengthened.”
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
In the New Testament, St. Paul
challenged the Corinthians to look at the
different gifts that each person was
bringing to the Body of Christ.
Read Chapter 12, verses 4 through 11.
All the gifts we have are for the good of
all in the community. Jesus takes us as
we are. He recognizes all of us as his
brothers and sisters. We bring our
different gifts to our parish community.
We gather each Sunday as this Body of
Christ as we celebrate Eucharist.
For example, Chuck is the head usher
at his church. He is 54 years old. He
had a stroke this past year, which left
his right side partially paralyzed. After
extended therapy, he can walk with a
leg brace and a cane. Some days he
still uses his wheelchair. When he was
able to come back to church, he
resumed his position as usher. He is still
the captain of the team, greeting the
people at the doors before Mass and
distributing bulletins.
Does your parish invite people
with disabilities to be ministers at
the Eucharist or to hold other
leadership positions? Why or why
not?
CHALLENGE
Take a walk around your parish grounds
and note how accessible the buildings
are.
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What do you find that is
accessible?
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What do you find that needs to be
changed for those who have
disabilities?
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How can you as an individual or
as a class work to make your
parish more open for those people
who have disabilities?
PRAYER
Join together in a prayer!
Dear Lord,
We thank you for the many different gifts
you have given to all of us.
We thank you for inviting all to your
table.
Help us to have open hearts to reach all
those who want to join us.
Help us to have open minds to begin to
know better the gifts that each person
brings to our family.
Help us to open the doors of your
church for all people.
We know your love is for each and
every one of us!
AMEN
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