The Diocese of Dallas’ Community of Disciples initiative is reshaping how parishes understand belonging, disability, and the shared life of the Church. Rooted in the belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God, the initiative works to form parish communities where people with disabilities are not only welcomed but recognized as “fully indispensable” members of the Body of Christ, said Alison Wire, associate director for the diocesan office for Persons with Disabilities.
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson
At first, Jaden Britton’s parents had one goal: to get their son baptized; and even that seemingly simple objective sometimes felt unobtainable. At the time when his parents began their pursuit, the young boy with autism could not read, could not write, and often struggled to sit still — all qualities that made typical faith formation classes difficult. Nonetheless, on Jan. 17, through the grace of God and the efforts of Jaden, his parents, and the staff of St. Joseph Catholic Parish in Richardson, the 12 year old celebrated not only his baptism but his first Communion and confirmation too.
As the first communicants of St. Joseph Catholic Church traverse the aisles of the sanctuary to receive the Blessed Sacrament for the first time, their faces often glow with the joy of the sacramental moment. Christie McGee, who as the Richardson parish’s director of children and family ministry has witnessed this heartening scene many times, said that the faces of the communicant’s parents also radiate jubilance in that moment — but all too often, the parents remain a step removed from the sacrament itself.
Over the past year, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Plano has seen significant — and unprecedented — growth in the parish’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. The growth has been “sudden,” according to Director of Faith Formation Bruce Baumann, who said that the program had essentially tripled its number of participants from the year before.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church welcomed nearly 300 women into its Parish Hall Feb. 22 for the 25th Annual Women’s Retreat.
One never knows what might spark inspiration. Leftover paint. A worldwide pandemic. A leap of faith. For Allison Hsu, a parishioner at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson, all three of those things played a role in inspiring her to illustrate a recently published children’s book, “The Gospel of Matthew for Little Ones.”