Zainey: My father, my son

I have had the privilege of working on the Archdiocesan Special Needs Committee under the leadership of Dr. Jan Daniel Lancaster, superintendent of education for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. This committee, which includes Father Mike Mitchell, Dr. Yvonne Adler, Lisa Winters, Pete Quirk, Shelley Landrieu, Kieran Weldon and other wonderful people, in addressing the educational needs of students with special needs in our Catholic school system.
   
A few weeks ago, Jan asked me to write an article about Catholic education for children with special needs in this edition of the Clarion Herald.
  
Much has happened since I started thinking about what I would write.
 
My 92-year-old father passed away during Holy Week, and his funeral was on March 30. Our family was very blessed to have had him as long as we did. Dad and Mom were married for 69 years and were still living at home together at the time of Dad’s death.
 
My parents have four children, all of whom live within two miles of each other. They were blessed with five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, all of whom they loved dearly.
 
The day before Dad died, one of my brothers and I had lunch with him. That night, my son Andrew and I visited Dad and Mom. What made that night different than any other was the fact that this would be the last time that Andrew and I would see Dad alive.
 
Dad loved and treated all of his children and grandchildren the same – he loved all of us unconditionally. He basked in the glory of our successes, and he shared in our difficulties.
 
Andrew has special needs. In God’s eyes, Andrew is no different than his brother and sister. He is a living and loving human being.
 
Andrew just needs more help.
 
We, as Catholics, are responsible for each other.
 
It has been said that “the greatest gift anyone could be given is the awareness of all of the gifts he or she already has.” Of course, with our having been given so many gifts – we have certain responsibilities – we must help each other.
 
The Gospel at Dad’s funeral selected by our family came from Matthew 5:1-12a, the Beatitudes:
 
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

The Beatitudes were a blueprint of Dad’s life.

Father Mike Mitchell, who has been celebrating our monthly Mass for God’s Special Children, their families and friends for more than a decade, gave a beautiful homily, and I would like to share parts with you.

In describing God’s children with special needs in light of the Beatitudes, Father Mike said: “And while some are poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is definitely theirs. Many are meek. All thirst for righteousness. Most, if not all, are merciful and clean of heart. They are peacemakers and God’s children – without a doubt. And sadly, many have known persecution and insult so, as Jesus promised, their reward will be great in heaven.”

The church recognizes that the right to life is not limited to the unborn. All life is sacred – and when a child who has special needs is brought into this world, we as the church community must reach out with open arms and welcome that person into our lives.

Our church is committed to opening its doors to everyone. That is who we are and what Jesus Christ wants us to do. We are the church, and if we call ourselves Catholics, we must help each other. That is what Christ has instructed us to do.

The church has come a long way, thanks to Archbishop Gregory Aymond who has shown his love, care and compassion.

The Respect Life focus for the month of March was on the topic of disabilities. This issue of the Clarion Herald includes a column by Archbishop Aymond (“Teaching all of our children is a priority that cannot wait”) and a letter from Dr. Lancaster (“The Privilege of teaching those with special needs”) about the special needs initiatives presently underway in our Catholic schools.

This is exciting news for those parents blessed with a child with special needs who want to have their child educated in a Catholic school.

Under Dr. Lancaster’s incredible leadership, our special needs committee has formulated a survey (Click here for survey) to enable our Catholic schools system to address the needs of Catholic students with all degrees of developmental delay and special needs, to the extent possible.

As parents, we lovingly advocate for our children, no matter their mental or physical capacity – for we are all children of God.

By completing the survey, you are doing your part to live the Beatitudes with all of God’s children, no matter their degree of ability.

Please join us for our monthly God’s Special Children’s Mass. Our Mass is open to everyone, and we welcome everyone’s participation. When you join us, you will know what it is like to be in the midst of angels.

Our next Mass is May 1 at St. Francis Xavier Church, 444 Metairie Road, Metairie, at 2 p.m.

Please join us as two of our special angels – Tess Landry and Trey Derbes – and their buddy Shane Fitzpatrick receive their confirmation. It will be a beautiful experience for all of us, for we are all God’s children.

You can read more about God’s Special Children, by looking at our website (www.godsspecialchildren.org).

Jay Zainey is a United States federal judge.