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Autism

Writer's picture: Profiles in CatholicismProfiles in Catholicism
Nov 26, 201910 min read

Updated: Jan 16

Prayers


“An Enlightening Love” 

        

How, Lord, little by little, I forgot to spend your love, not mine,

On the children who wear me away, like water on a rock, rising

Early, even midnight or four in the morning, ready to play and

Rock the day, ready to play and wear me away, ready to play day

By day, when I am no longer ready to play but ready for a rest.


Dear Mary, you were alert at the marriage feast and knew that

The wine had run out and that we needed an extraordinary help

In the gift of your Son taking the waterless jars used to wash

And, just as we used up that water to clean externally, to rinse

What can be rinsed off, and to soak what can be soaked off.


Dear Joseph, you were close to running out of goodwill when the

Angel spoke to you of a divine gift of accepting a child not your

Own but your wife’s and to live that love of Him as if it was your only

Son, your most precious son, yet the son you adopted amidst

The adoption of other children, too, which were not your own.


Oh Joseph, you needed the help of an angel to see beyond a child,

Not your own, mysteriously conceived in the womb of Mary, your

Betrothed, knowing that the child was not your own but, by angel

Grace, knowing that this child was divine and was given as a grace

To help the human race and so, like Mary, you took up the task.


Oh Mary, you needed the help of an angel, too, to accept the truly

Mysterious nature of a uniquely holy conception, wholly holy, in

The very embryonic reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God made

True man, come to unfold the path of redeeming love for all who

Live, traversing human life from conception until an untimely death.


And you Lord, in the garden of anguish, confronted with an inescapable

possibility of a terrible suffering, an angel came to

Strengthen you, giving the strength that comes from the presence

Of God Himself, making us realize that in our hour of desperation,

When it is impossible to be patient, that the angels are there to help.


Lord, may you and your holy Mother and spouse, St. Joseph, all

Of whom have known the help of an angel, press into service for each of us,

our guardian angel, given us by God to be exactly there,

At our side, in order to turn our hearts into helpers especially when

Our goodwill is spent, we are tired, and the child is in danger too.


Let your word, coming as it does more freely than psychiatric

Assessments, more routinely than a regular appointment with

The doctor, revealing more than an x-ray and opening,

more discreetly than we can be, what untold stresses are in our hearts

And hammering at our door, day in and day out, to ask for help.


And so we pray, Lord, not just for ourselves but for those we love

And care for, that we need the vigilance of our Guardian Angel

So that, on call more than any monitor, our angel may help us to

Seek the help that we need to be of help to others without the snap

And crack of wear sending us to prison to get the help we needed.


by Francis Etheredge Catholic married layman, father of 11,3 of whom are in heaven, and an author. Just published: The Word in Your Heart: Mary, Youth, and Mental Health


A Prayer of St. Francis for Autism

sun shining through trees on a dirt road

The silhouette of a person climbing on a mountain with the sun in the background

The silhouette of pine trees with blue sky in the background

Lord, let thy peace fill me up until I overflow;

that where people cannot speak, I may be their advocate;

that where anyone is rejected, I may extend my arms in welcome;

that where parents are heavy burdened, I may offer a word of comfort; that where our children struggle, I may lift them up and cheer; that where some see disability, I may reveal to them extraordinary gifts; that where others judge, I may share with them my deep gladness; and that where any are overlooked, I may help the lights of all to shine.

Oh giver of these gifts,

grant that I may not so much seek to be reassured as to reassure;

to be praised as to praise;

to be accepted as to accept;

for it is in all our uncertainty that we are inspired to hope;

it is in great challenges that we discover our greatest joys,

and it is in our community of wanderers that we find the way home.

Amen.

Tim Tucker

Both Hands and a Flashlight

Parenting, Autism, and the Pursuit of Being Awesome

Provided by the National Catholic Partnership on Disability Autism Task Force


Good and gracious God,

You brought Landon back to yourself quickly. It is his simple kindness that made you think of him. Please bless his parents and all his relatives in this time of sorrow for them. May their lives be filled with the knowledge that Landon is with you at peace and embraced in your loving arms by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism


A Prayer for Alejandro Ripley

One Life Uprooted

Dear God the Father, Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth,

Your love loves each life into being, both fragile and firm,

Each beautiful, both burgeoning but inheriting a blemish,

Just as your love acts in the union out of which we spring,

So you enrich us with the many helps that, together,

Strengthen, colour and enhance our gift of life

Swelling, growing, expressing what is hidden –

Receive the sprouting seed, the seedling, the young plant,

Prematurely plucked from the soil that nourished it,

Tragically uprooted, not transplanted, withered not watered.

Dear Lord, Only Son of the Father, Merciful Redeemer of All,

You know the plight of parents, their struggles and strife,

The long hours and lonely difficulties that blight our lives,

You know both the delights and the temptations that would

Turn us back from the beginning that you planned and planted

Between us, as delicate as a fledgling plant, too helpless

To roam far and wide, too young to leave, too needy to be left –

Forgive the suppressing suffocation of the help we did not seek,

The terrible turning from the turn towards you to complete

What you began and wanted to flourish in the fullness of life.

Oh, Holy Spirit and Lord of Life, Gift from Gift and Help of All,

Turn us all to the help of each and everyone who lives:

Turn parents back to their children’s nurture and neediness,

Turn mother’s back from being lost in labyrinthine ways,

Turn father’s back to loving their wives and helping in the home,

Turn children back to discovering their good gifts, freely given,

Turn the family back to fostering the good of all.

Dear Jesus, Son of Mary and Child in the Care of St. Joseph,

You lived through the childhood of children,

Silently but significantly present, inviting us to remember

Your presence among us at all times and in any place –

Walk with us through all our joys and sorrows and

Show us, in ways unique to you, how to heal broken wounds

And accompany those untimely taken to the Father’s heart;

Dear Mary, Mother of the Lord and Spouse of Joseph,

You passed in the midst of many and profound sufferings,

You know the hardship of fleeing violence, struggling with little,

Opening your home to others and being with your dying son –

Make your presence known to us in the daily difficulties of life,

Bringing consolation, hope, and inspiration to pass-through

the impassable problems, whether obvious or hidden;

Dear St. Joseph, Guardian of the Child Jesus and Spouse of Mary,

You experienced the trials of poverty and persecution,

Protecting your family and trading in uncertain times,

Opening your skills and talents to those around you –

Lead us in recovering our neglect as husbands and fathers,

Guiding us in our work, recreation and choice of companions,

Enabling us to bridge home and work, faithful to all.

Oh Blessed Trinity, Origin of Creation and all that is good,

Cause of the people of God and the mystery of the Holy Family,

Be present in our daily life, ever drawing us out of our resistance

To calling on you each and every day on the path that pulls

Us through the vortex of time, drawing ever more people

Heavenward, while multiplying the cultivation of the earth

Through which we pass, as pilgrims, bequeathing ever greater

Benefits to those who remain and raising a song of praise,

Ever resounding, ever-mounting the reasons for thanksgiving.

Amen.

by  Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism


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