Delfina Cook receives award from Persons with Disabilities Commission

Friday, Oct. 09, 2015

KEARNS — St. Rose of Lima parishioner Delfina Cook, who has been involved with religious education for more than 30 years and is active with the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) and the Catholic Woman’s League, was presented with the 2015 Catholics Can Award on Oct. 4.

The annual award is given by the Diocese of Salt Lake City Persons with Disabilities Commission. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish hosted the Mass at which Cook received the award.

Cook was born with a musculoskeletal disorder that stunted her growth, and later in life she developed osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and spinal stenosis. However, she “is an example in her parish, the diocese and nationally to what Catholics with disabilities can do to demonstrate the true message of evangelization, service and hospitality,” according to her nomination form.

“Despite her chronic pain, six hip surgeries and two spinal fusions, Delfina has demonstrated exemplary implementation of stewardship. She has been a volunteer for many years, all the way back to elementary school when she tutored fellow students at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School,” the nomination reads. “At that very early age, she demonstrated that having a disability doesn’t mean one cannot serve. Rather, she freely answered curious questions from her fellow school children, shared a personal awareness of disability and living acceptance, all the while serving others.”

In high school, Cook assisted with religious education and continued to do so for more than 30 years. In 1977, she joined the DCCW, “and continues ministry through the CCW, not only at her parish, but also in the deanery, diocese and national levels,” according to the nomination. “She has served in many leadership capacities with the CCW and the Catholics Woman’s League. In fact, just last month she attended the NCCW convention.”

Cook also sponsors new Catholics who join the Church, including a youth with disabilities, and when her parish built a new church in Layton, “she voiced the need for more accessible parking spaces and creating spaces with the church for parishioners using wheelchairs or other mobility devices,” the nomination reads. In addition, she volunteers for many parish activities and attends daily Mass. 

“Delfina’s work is a model for all of us,” the nomination states.  

Before reading the nomination at the presentation of the award on Oct. 4, Kathryn Larson, a member of the diocesan commission, said Cook asked her “to let everyone know that she only ever serves with joy, with God’s love and faith, she serves with joy.”

During his homily, Deacon Sunday Espinoza said that God “offers us an invitation to see our communities as those places where his work to heal and restore his entire community is ongoing” and that community “is comprised of those with varying abilities who seek to include and be included in a community of all.” 

At the conclusion of the Mass, Father Dominic Thuy Dang Ha, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, exposed the Blessed Sacrament for a brief period of adoration while the congregation prayed for those who are sick.