Evangelization Outreach / Jenny Bryans

I found my keys! SPREAD events open volunteers’ hearts to God’s love

“Find keys” was a common phrase of my brother Gary, who has an intellectual and developmental disability. Growing up in a large family, there always seemed to be someone looking for their keys. He was eager to help them find their keys because that might mean going on a car ride, which he loved.

My brother was and still is pure of heart in his intentions and actions. If you think of the Eight Beatitudes, each having a door to the kingdom of God, I think Gary would have a heart-shaped key to open the door of the sixth Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.”

Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Church, and he gave us keys to the kingdom when he gave us the beatitudes. The Eight Doors of the Kingdom, Meditations on the Beatitudes by Father Jacques Phillipe, a member of the Community of the Beatitudes in France, is a wonderful book that offers a deeper understanding of these teachings of Jesus.

In the book, the priest states: “Consider, too, these words of Ezekiel: ‘A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh’ [Ez 36:26]. The Beatitudes are a description of this ‘new heart’ that the Holy Spirit fashions in us, which is the heart of Christ.”

As the archdiocese’s Disabilities Ministry coordinator, I am privileged to encounter many individuals who are pure of heart. It is quite simple for them: they love Jesus, they love one another, they are grateful and very thoughtful. Their prayers are for others’ needs, and their singing is full of joyful praise. As Father Phillipe says in his book of meditations on the beatitudes: “Nothing purifies the heart so much as praising and blessing God. A grateful heart is a pure heart.”

I recall one year, when the Disabilities Ministry team was planning a Special Religious Education and Discipleship (SPREAD) summer retreat, we asked the participants for ideas for the design of the retreat T-shirt. Someone called out a suggestion, and they all decided that it was important that the shirt said, “I love Jesus.” This is another example of how many in this group are anxious to show their love of Jesus to others.

I think that love is exactly why this ministry has so many dedicated volunteers, too. There are very few people who volunteer only one time. Once a new volunteer experiences that unconditional love, they realize that they were just given a heart-shaped key, and it opened their heart to God’s love.

Some of our volunteers have been involved with SPREAD for 20-plus years. We still need a great number of volunteers at our events to provide one-on-one help for many participants.

If you are interested in receiving this heart-shaped key, then you might want to consider volunteering at our SPREAD events or starting up a SPREAD program at your parish.

Do you know someone with an intellectual and developmental disability who would enjoy becoming a participant in one of the SPREAD groups or events? If so, please share my contact information with them or their family. I would love to answer any questions or help anyone discern getting involved in this beautiful ministry, either as a participant or a volunteer.

Our next SPREAD event will be an Advent Retreat on Dec. 6 at St. Mark the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis. For more information or questions, contact me at 317-236-1448 or jbryans@archindy.org.
 

(Jenny Bryans is the archdiocese’s Disabilities Ministries coordinator.) †