Glory to God in the Highest

Good People,

It is my great joy to thank God for the happy faces that I saw you wearing at the time of Fr. Paul Zirimenya's Mass of Thanksgiving at Sacred Heart in Newton. It brought me great joy to see your joy at so joyous a time.

God is so good. Can it even begging to be understood the intense goodness to have a vocation? And in this most amazing way! I don't think we could ever fully understand the immensity of the thing God has worked in our midst without dying of love.

In Christ,

Fr. St. Martin

Attention Deaf Catholic Youth

I reciently recieved a message about a youth event from Seminarian Shawn Carey and would like to put the exciting news out so that you can all take part if you can. The message included this message "I recently found out that Fr. MD will be presenting 2 workshops for Deaf teens at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) this November in Columbus, Ohio. (see http://www.nfcym.org/ncyc/2007/index.htm). It would be great to be able to send some Deaf Catholic teens from our various areas to this event. I know some of you have contacts with Deaf Catholic youth either through the schools for the Deaf or can pass this information along to others you might know in your diocese or other dioceses. I know the NCYC events are a blast for kids, and thought I would pass along in case you might know others interested. Thanks! God bless!"

Please let me or Kathy Carey know your thoughts and plans concerning this wonderful development.

Sincerely,

Fr. St. Martin

Blessed Mother Teresa Parish ASL Youth Classes Update

Good People,

It has been fun. The youth are learing a little ASL. We have three more Fridays to enjoy this fun summer event. The response from people has been great! Thank you Shawn and Annie.

Sincerely,

Fr. St. Martin

Shawn tells of His Call.

Shawn tells of his call.

Click here to see the article in the Boston Globe article:

Deaf seminarian has visual sense of religion

Shawn Carey, using sign language, talked about the challenges faced by hearing-impaired priests and parishioners. (GEORGE RIZER/GLOBE STAFF)
By Rich Barlow July 21, 2007
While on retreat at his California seminary, Shawn Carey found himself in a bind when the leader turned on some music. "Please focus on the music," the leader instructed, "and think about what words in the music impact you." Carey's face crumples in a mock cry at the memory. "How? How?" he pleads, using sign language interpreted by the Rev. Jeremy St. Martin, director of Deaf Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Boston. "That bothered me a lot."
It was a rare instance of his disability (that's society's word; Carey calls it a gift from God) impeding his worship. Deaf from birth, cocooned in eternal silence, Carey may not be able to savor the majestic hymns that his fellow Catholics raise to their God. Instead, he taps into inaudible pathways to the divine.
"The deaf, we're very visual people," said the 34-year-old seminarian. "We depend on [vision] for learning; we can't hear. Whenever I see the Blessed Sacrament at adoration, the Eucharist, I see Christ there. I use visual imagination [to see] how Christ suffered and died. There's a picture inside my brain, like a movie. That's my spirituality. That's how I communicate with God."
Raised in Westfield, Carey, a candidate for the priesthood, is studying at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., which has a program for deaf seminarians. He is to be ordained in 2009, when the archdiocese will give him his marching orders.
The passage of years and the accretion of understanding of its deaf community have opened doors in his church, he says, that once were barred.
"When I was a kid, my mother and father struggled to find support for the deaf," he recalled.
Carey had to study church-offered religious instruction with a private tutor, and he similarly received his First Communion, typically done with a class of peers, with just his family present.
"But now, it's all changed," he continued. It was a revelation when he attended his first Mass in American Sign Language on Ash Wednesday in 2000," he said. "It was in Watertown, St. Theresa's. I went to that church, and I was amazed. My jaw dropped."
Today, Carey said, "there's more access into the church, and deaf Catholics feel more connected. And that's why I'm excited to serve them, deaf and hearing both."
"He'll be able to serve the deaf, naturally," by celebrating Masses in sign language, "and serve the hearing by interpreting" their Mass for deaf parishioners, said St. Martin.
There are just eight deaf priests in the United States, according to the National Catholic Office for the Deaf, based in Maryland.
St. Martin, who took over Deaf Catholic Ministries two months ago, says he needs more time in the job to learn what the ministries' needs are, be it more signing priests or something else. (Deaf Catholic Ministries has a website, deafcatholic.org.)
But the archdiocese has a history of serving deaf people, he said. "Boston has a very good reputation for service to deaf Catholics in the country."
That sentiment may not be universal. Boston lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented more than 80 deaf and hearing-impaired Catholic clients in various cases, said that "the archdiocese wasn't paying attention" to accommodating their needs, a deficiency he said he hopes Carey could help remedy.
The thought of becoming a priest first flickered for Carey when he was a freshman in his Catholic high school, when one of his teachers, who was a priest, impressed him.
That interest subsided for a time, as he took a job after college with an investment firm. He enjoyed the job but felt he was held back, perhaps unintentionally, for his deafness. "It's hard to receive a promotion," he said. He was told that his inability to participate in phone calls was an issue.
More important, he said, "the hound of heaven was following me." (The reference is to a poem by Francis Thompson: "I fled him, down the nights and down the days . . . From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.")
That signed Mass on Ash Wednesday seven years ago launched a journey that ultimately led to the seminary.
Throughout, deafness has never struck him as a barrier.
"If God made us all the same," he said, "it'd be a boring world for sure."
Questions, comments or story ideas can be sent to spiritual@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.

Save the Dates

Dear People,

Please read click on the flyer to the right. It has the information you are looking for about a great opportunity that we need to plan for now. You can click on the flyer and print it out. Give it to your friends. There are many deaf catholics from across America who are planning to go. There was a lot of enthusiasm for this event shown at the German Deaf Youth Exchange Camp I was able to visit last week.

Please leave comments below. Call Cathy Carey if you are interested in going so she can keep a list and we can set up a meeting.


Also, World Youth Day is less than a year away. There is a website with all the details you can Check out: http://www.wyd2008.org/index.php/en/

The Holy Father invites all the youth of the world and adults to help along the way. The theme for this year is: "You will be baptised with the Holy Spirit." Acts 1:5 . I know that the Young Catholics especially those who are deaf are looking forward to the sign of unity our presence will represent. Unity is the sign of the Holy Spirit. I hope that you are interested. If you are interested at all please contact Cathy Carey so she can keep a list and we can set up a meeting.

The dates for World Youth Day , held in Sydney, are the 15th-20th of July, 2008.

The dates for the The International Pilgrimage of Catholic Deaf Peoples, held in Rome, are 25th - 26th of June, 2008. The plan many groups have is to spend a week or so in Rome and then join the group for the two days of Activities together.

I have been to Rome a few times and would love to show you all around. I have a great love of the World Youth Day experience and look forward to leading you to the great celebration of unity and love that the Sunday Eucharist with the Pope and the world's youth brings about.

In Christ,

Fr. St. Martin