Promoted by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, the #IamChurch initiative consists in five videos demonstrating the daily struggles of persons with disabilities who, far from feeling burdensome or “set aside”, provide their own specific contribution within their ecclesial communities. “The Word of God in the lives of people with disabilities” is the title of the fifth and final video.
By Vatican News staff reporter
VATICAN CITY — As the Church prepares to celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life brings us this fifth and final video in the #IamChurch series, entitled “The Word of God in the lives of people with disabilities.”
The latest video tells of Antonietta and Federico, two young people from Rome who are living their faith experience within a Faith and Light community.
Their story is particularly significant in these days when the Church is celebrating the Sunday of Word of God, during which, for the first time, the Holy Father will confer the ministry of Catechist to a number of lay people.
Both testify with enthusiasm that “the Gospel is for everyone” and tell, with words from which reflect an explosive joy, how the encounter with Jesus has profoundly changed their lives.
Difficulty and joy
Antonietta doesn’t hide the difficulty of living with a disability: “Now you see me smiling all day long, but there are moments when I ask myself: ‘But why?'”
But hers is the story of a serene woman, who lives rooted in listening to the Word of God and who feels she must give back the gift she has received. That’s why she decided to dedicate herself to catechizing children.
Federico, who can’t read, tells how he approaches the Word through common reading and theatrical plays within his community. In this way, Jesus becomes “a presence that accompanies me. Always, even in this moment.”
Antonietta explains where her joy and determination come from: “If He wasn’t there, I honestly wouldn’t know where to get the smile I have every day. The problem of disability, if you don’t live it, you can’t understand a person who is up here [in a wheelchair, ed]. So, God to me is everything.”
Amoris Laetitia Year
#IamChurch is an initiative of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, as part of the “Amoris Laetitia Family” Year.
It is a journey through five videos, discovering people who are often victims of the throwaway culture, who testify to a smiling humanity and not at all victimistic: an attractive face of the Church.
These are women and men, lay and consecrated, theologians or simple faithful, who show the complexity and richness of the world of disability.
