Workshops to focus on new guidelines for sacraments for people with disabilities
SALT LAKE CITY — For much of her life, Cindy Vega has felt a calling to be of service in the Church. At the age of 12 she became a lector, and has served in that capacity for 35 years. Then last year, she felt she needed to do something more. She approached her pastor, Fr. John Evans, about becoming an extraordinary minister of the Holy Eucharist. Initially, Fr. Evans was nervous, she said, but agreed to help her.
So Vega went through the required training and for the last year has administered the Eucharist during Masses at St. Thomas More Parish. When she administers Holy Communion, the only difference between Vega, who is blind, and the other ministers is her two helpers: an altar server on one side and her guide dog on the other.
Initially, people were hesitant to receive communion from her, she said, but “they’re not as apprehensive these days.”
She also was able to help distribute ashes to parishioners on Ash Wednesday, when the parish was shorthanded. To guide her, an alter server placed Vega’s hand on the recipient’s forehead.
Like her calling to the ministry, her blindness is simply a part of who she is, Vega said.
“I really think my blindness and my other issues are a gift from God because he wants me to share his love with other people, to show awareness that people can do things, that you can live your life to the fullest that you can,” she said. “I believe that people need to open their minds and their hearts and be willing to be flexible about people with disabilities. Not everybody can fit in that square box; you’ve got to bend it and flex it to accommodate the needs so everybody can be accepted and feel that we are all welcome.”
In that spirit of accommodation, Deacon Sunday Espinoza with the diocesan Office of Vocations had the experience of working with a young man with multiple disabilities, whose parents desired him to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Because the young man was unable to communicate verbally, Deacon Espinoza devised a series of lessons based on stories and pictures to help him prepare for the occasion.
As the lessons progressed, “You could tell he was starting to make connections,” Espinoza said, and the young man’s Confirmation was a wonderful experience where “all who were there were touched by the Spirit. It was an honor to help make it happen,” he said.
He sees welcoming people with disabilities into full participation in the Church as part of the mission.
“Who are we to deny any child of God the sacraments?” he said. “Who are we not to do everything we can to make that happen?”
That message also comes from Bishop Oscar Solis, who has made it a priority to ensure that the sacraments are made available to as many Church members as possible and that all feel a part of the Church.
“The Church in Utah strives to make herself a ‘welcoming place’ for all,” he wrote in a recent letter to local Church leaders. “It is my hope that the doors are always open to people with disabilities and that we will work together to ensure that our liturgy and parish community is accessible and inclusive to all.”
To help achieve that goal, the diocesan Commission for People with Disabilities is sponsoring a series of workshops on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ revised guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments for People with Disabilities.
“It’s important that each pastor and parish does all that can be done to not only welcome people with disabilities, but to also include them in each of the Sacraments,” said Carol Ruddell, a member of the diocesan Commission for People with Disabilities. “As the U.S. bishops point out, it’s more than physical access to buildings, but access to catechesis and formation, with an attitude of inclusivity of everyone.”
At the workshops, participants will discuss the eight foundational principals that the bishops used to guide their deliberations. They will also have the opportunity to discuss each of the Sacraments in small groups. The workshops, which will be presented in both English and Spanish, will be held over the next six months at parishes throughout the diocese.
Linda Diaz, director of religious education at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, sees a need for such training at the parish level.
While in her parish they have been using an adaptive kit to help parishioners with special needs prepare to receive the sacraments, she is anxious to do more and hopes that participants at the workshops will share what they are doing in their parishes.
“There’s such a need,” she said. “While we have some parishioners with special needs who are very active, others may not have come forward yet because they are not aware of us offering those accommodations in the sacrament preparation area.”
The Diocese of Salt Lake City’s Commission for People with Disabilities will sponsor five workshops regarding the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ revised guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments for People with Disabilities.
Saturday, March 24, 10 a.m. – noon at St. Joseph Parish, 514 24th St., Ogden
Saturday, April 14, 1-3 p.m. , St. Joseph the Worker Parish, 7405 South Redwood Road, West Jordan
Saturday, May 5, 10 a.m. – noon, Christ the King Parish, 690 S. Cove Drive, Cedar City
Saturday, May 12, 9-11 a.m., St. Francis of Assisi Parish, 65 East 500 North, Orem
Saturday, Sept. 29, 9-11 a.m., St. Helen Parish, 435 E. Main St., Roosevelt
For information or to RSVP, contact Carol Ruddell, 801-440-8729 or cgruddell@comcast.net. All those attending will receive a copy of the USCCB guidelines.
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