The Impossible Call for Disabled Christians

https://buymeacoffee.com/greyhermit     I am called a late vocation. A former Baptist Minister, A convert to the Catholic faith. An unprofessed Christian hermit. I have taken only private vows to God. I can't say I'm a Catholic Christian Hermit, just a plain old Christian Hermit. Lol. I live by a rule of life based upon the rule of St. Albert, just like my Carmelite brothers and sisters. But alas, I am old and disabled. There are no hermitage cells available for someone like me, as most are not wheelchair accessible. But I make do with my hermitage home, complete with a prayer closet. And I pray the liturgy and the rosary, and for the souls of the world, while living a stricter separation from the world. And I haven't read anywhere in the Holy Scriptures that says God doesn't listen to my prayers as much as a "real" religious living in community. I do go to confession and Mass, even though I am relegated to the very last row listening to the readings through a garbled and muted sound system that I am quite sure was manufactured around the time of Christ. But, by now I am getting used to being disregarded and pitied by faithful and priests alike. Relegated to fighting the enemy of our souls in the form of strict little old ladies who get mad when I dare roll my wheelchair around to the shady side of the chapel where the side door to the Chapel is located, where the "important" people that participate in the Mass, walk in and out. Seems she owned that part of the sidewalk and felt compelled to correct my grievous behavior and sin. She believed I was to wait in the hot, unshaded parking lot for my wheelchair accessible bus. God bless her little heart.

    This type of discrimination is nothing new in the Church. Disabled are simply viewed as poor and pitiful souls barely able to get dressed for Church, much less able to serve meaningfully within her walls. And good luck finding anyone who knows anything or any way to deal with this evil form of discrimination within the Church and religious orders. If there is a religious order out there that accepts elderly and disabled, please let me know about it. I couldn't find one. I am self-sufficient and not a burden on anyone, so they cannot use that excuse against me. In fact, I can be pretty handy to have around. I know how to cook. I can use a computer (obviously). I have sixty years of life experiences. I'm seminary trained. And have a pretty good knowledge of scripture and a good spiritual life. So why am I not even considered for a vocation in the Church? Is it because I am too old? Do I smell funny? Does my breath stink? Surely, it's not because I am disabled. That would be sort of "unchristian" don't you think? Or did I read the scriptures wrong when Jesus went around healing the disabled. Showing them a little compassion, not pity. Ordering the disabled to rise and walk and carry their mat, or to get to work spreading the gospel.  Don't even get me started on the Pharisees and their views of the disabled. 

    Please, don't think for a moment I am speaking only about myself. I think I can definitely speak for many disabled Christians within the Catholic faith. All over the world. Many who are called according to God's purpose yet denied opportunities to fulfill their callings within the Church because of discrimination which if you asked anyone in charge, would tell you does not exist. Maybe it's time for changing some rules, I don't know. I just know that some of the holiest people I have ever met, were disabled, who consider their suffering to be a grace from God. And we all know that according to St. Paul and God Himself, is sufficient.      D. H.