I recently reached out to Xavier Society for the Blind to prepare for the upcoming events for Jesus is Here! As the excitement builds, I recall the story of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, who was part of a crowd following Jesus on His way to Jerusalem as He left Jericho. Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, Son of David. Take pity on me!” (Mk 10:47). The crowd told Bartimaeus to be quiet; however, he cried all the louder and Jesus asked him what he wanted. He asked for his sight; Jesus responded, “Your faith has made you well.” The Eucharistic procession will be in Archdiocese of Cincinnati the first week of July and will be stopping by host parishes along the way. It will be an event to remember for those with sight and the blind.
Do you have community members who have low vision or are blind? In 2009, my oldest son was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease and in 2011 my daughter and younger son were diagnosed, also. Advocating for large print items for school and events has always been a priority. Sometimes this can be overlooked by those who have perfect vision. We live in a seeing and hearing world and I challenge each of you to support members of your community by offering large print materials and braille for the blind. If you have someone in your parish community that is blind, you can request to have programs printed in braille for free from Xavier Society for the Blind.
Xavier “Free Publication” Society was founded in 1900. Inspired by a blind teacher of blind children, Margaret Coffey, and Fr. Joseph Stadelman, SJ. Xavier Society mission states, To provide the Word of God, and the best of Roman Catholic teaching and literature, spiritual and inspirational material, to blind or visually impaired persons of any faith in whatever format best meets their needs at no charge and to continually explore ways to make that material more accessible and available to the widest possible audience of those in need.
On July 6th at the Jesus is Here! Mass at St. Peter in Chains, large print programs will be available. One member of the Blind Community who plans to attend will have access to a braille program. If you or someone you know has low vision or are blind, please contact, Lisa Averion [email protected] to learn more about the free resources offered by Xavier Society for the Blind.
