Catholic Hotdish

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In celebration of Respect Life Month, I’m posting this poem called Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley. Her son, Jason, was born with Down syndrome in 1974. She wrote this piece to explain what it is like to have a child with special needs. The author also wrote Sesame Street episodes–making sure to include puppets and actors with disabilities. She won 12 daytime Emmys and helped others to embrace life.

Mary and Peter Kellett

The arms of Mary and Don Kellett are aching for their son Peter these days because on August 20 their sweet child, age six and a half, was called home. He is now wrapped in the arms of the Holy Family. This disabled boy was somehow able to sprinkle lessons and blessings to people all over the world–even though he couldn’t walk or talk. Fr. Jim Livingston, who has known the Kellets since Peter was born, told me, “I’ve talked to people who have held him and they felt God’s presence. When I was blessing him once, I felt like I was reaching my hand into a pool of living water, and that I was the one receiving the blessing.”

Miraculous Life

When he was born, Peter’s doctors said he wouldn’t live two weeks; he was born with a chromosomal defect called Trisomy 18. Frustratingly, his parents were encouraged to abort him. Some people even had the gall to say, “Just wrap him in a blanket and let him die.”

From the beginning, Peter was a fighter and object of many prayers. He gained strength during his five weeks of neonatal intensive care. “I just dreamed of the day when I could hold him. I joked to the nurses that I was going to Superglue him to me,” said Mary to The Catholic Spirit, which in 2005 and 2006, featured their family’s journey.

During the years that Peter’s siblings had with him, they were great helpers and smothered him with kisses galore. And I’m told that Don is the St. Joseph-figure for the family; a very patient and loving man who would probably have to pry Peter out of Mary’s arms in order to have a turn holding him.

Prenatal Partners for Life is born

Peter’s family predicted that when his time came he would leave a lasting legacy–and he has. His life inspired his family, members of St. Raphael in Crystal, to found a website called Prenatal Partners for Life (www.prenatalpartnersforlife.org) which matches families who receive an adverse diagnosis with families who’ve given birth to a child with a similar condition. The experienced parents help the others embrace life and offer accurate information, support and encouragement. Mary stated:

There is a place in the world for children with special needs. We all are ‘differently-abled,’ with flaws and gifts. These children are teachers of our souls, and society desperately needs the lessons and blessings they bring.

Peter the Teacher

Like the child Jesus instructing the elders in the temple, so did tender Peter teach the young and old. “He achieved much in his life–he gave his family and those who knew him many teachable and touchable moments. That was his vocation,” said Deacon Sean Curtan, who along with his wife, Joan, is the coordinator of the Archdiocesan Outreach for Persons with DisAbilities. “God reaped a rich harvest from Peter’s life, not a drop of it was wasted. We can be sure he is surrounded by love as he was on Earth. Peter’s legacy lives on.”

His legacy is seen in a pamphlet Mary wrote for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in 2007 titled: Peter’s Story: Discovering Hope and Love after an Adverse Prenatal Diagnosis (To read, click here). This work is distributed to Catholics nation-wide and has helped many families. In it, Mary States so beautifully:

We are grateful for Peter, whom we call our “little teacher.” Even though he may never speak a word, he has taught us many important lessons about love, sacrifice, compassion, patience, hope and faith. He has transformed the way we look at life and has broadened our view on the deeper meaning of the sacredness of all human life made in the image of God. Peter is teaching us what Jesus taught, and he is a tremendous source of grace. He is a sweet, happy little boy who knows and loves his family. In many ways he is my easiest child out of the eleven.

Fr. Livingston said that the most important thing about Peter is that he was the face of meekness. “Often we are so proud and strong that we don’t appreciate the blessedness of this gift Peter taught us. We live in a fast-paced, high-powered world. We have super-charged engines and he taught us to yield.”

Deacon Sean said, “We know he walked right into heaven.”

And I have a feeling that as soon as he got there, everyone lined up to hold him!

My mom came over the other day. She was touched by Fr. Michael O’Sullivan’s homily at Assumption Church. This priest’s name probably doesn’t ring a bell, and that’s because Father is a missionary, working in Tanzania for the last 14 years. But the story my mom heard actually takes place in Father’s homeland of Ireland. It’s about a famous athlete and his son who was born with Down syndrome.  I had the pleasure of meeting Father O’Sullivan at Joseph’s Restaurant and he gave me permission to share an excerpt of this homily with you.

 A Wee Bit of Father O’Sullivan’s Homily:

Courtesy of footystamps.com

Growing up in County Kerry in the 60’s, Mick O’Connell, a Kerry Gaelic Footballer known as “Micko,” was our boyhood hero…….. and the way he played football was to us very magical.  No one else on the planet could rise up and pull down the ball from the skies. We all wanted to play like him and we’d often pretend to be like him as we played on the local football field.

In 1972 he married Rosaleen, and they had three children: Máire, Mícheál and Diarmuid. For Micko and Rosaleen, the news that their youngest son, Diarmuid, had Down’s syndrome was a very disturbing experience. Their hopes and dreams dashed and it caused them to “weep together.”  But since then, their hearts have turned to happiness and a deep love for their special son. “Now,” says Mick, “we weep with joy.”  He describes Diarmuid as a great friend, and considers him the “greatest gift I was ever given.”

“There are times that I’m away, if I just speak to him on the phone or just think about him, it’s something that gives me great joy and happiness.” Diarmuid became for Micko the light of his life. Apparently the mere mention of his name brings jubilation to this great man.

“He has brought untold joy into our lives and we love him dearly,” says Micko whenever he is interviewed.

 Assisting People With Down Syndrome

Father O’Sullivan has something in common with his hero, Mick O’Connell– Both gentlemen are involved with helping those with Down syndrome.

“My wife is deeply involved with raising funds for the handicapped on the island and I support her as much as I can,” Mick O’Connell said. He and Rosaleen worked to establish a residential and training facility, called Tíg An Oilean, on Valentia Island which is off the west coast of Ireland– and from whence Micko would row a fishing boat to the mainland for school and ball practice.  They donated the land for the building and they also devote a good deal of  time fundraising for it.

Father O’Sullivan ended his homily saying the following about Micko’s generosity: “This facility is located, indeed, on Michael’s own land–on the very field on which he was raised and honed his immaculate and unequalled skills. It is a place that enables Diarmuid, now in his 30s, and his friends who have Down syndrome to live life to the full in their native place among a community which Rosaleen describes as, ‘the salt of the earth.’ ”

Below the Equator from Ireland lies Arusha, Tanzania–the town in which Fr. O’Sullivan formed his parish. He and his workers have set up a local support group for children living with disabilities and their families, including many with Down syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. He told me, “We have 65 children attending weekly therapy sessions with a volunteer from Ireland. We have planned to set up a creche in the new centre we are building to give the parents and ‘carers’ some time so that they are not overwhelmed by their situation. Living in a society where disability is still a taboo can be a very lonely place.”

Father Michael O’Sullivan is saying Masses at Assumption for the month of July. If you happen to see him, tell him, “Tanks a tousand!” According to the priest, it’s how the Irish say ‘Thanks a thousand.’ He and Micko’s family–and other heroes who embrace life–need to know how much we appreciate their beautiful work!