BURRILLVILLE — The Special Religious Education (SPRED) ministry for the Diocese of Providence celebrated Mass at St. Theresa Shrine in Burrillville on Saturday, Sept. 12, to commemorate its 35th year of sharing the Gospel with Catholics who have cognitive and developmental disabilities.
The Mass, celebrated by Father Shawn P. Casey of the Archdiocese of Boston, was followed by a picnic and party for members of the SPRED community, including volunteers, family members, and (most importantly) “Friends.”
“We always call the people we minister to our Friends,” said Irma Rodriguez, the director of the Office of the Apostolate with People with Disabilities.
“You will never hear us use words like ‘client’ or ‘student.’ We call them our friends, just as Jesus called us friends. There are no limits regarding age or ability for the people that we work with. We’re here to share the Gospel with everyone.”
There are 16 parishes in the Diocese of Providence with a Special Religious Development Parish Center and additional 34 parishes affiliated with the program in other ways. Although the St. Theresa Shrine has hosted a SPRED group for many years, this was the first time the ministry had used it for a gathering.
“We used to meet at St. Kateri Tekawitha in Exeter,” Rodriquez explained. “When they closed earlier this year, I reached out to my pastor here at St. Theresa, Father Jose Parathanal, and he welcomed us to have our Mass here at the shrine.”
Father Parathanal was one of the concelebrants for the Mass, together with Father Cyriac Kalampatt and Father Jeremy St. Martin, who served as a vocal interpreter for Father Casey.
Father Casey, a deaf priest who serves as the director of the Deaf Apostolate for the Archdiocese of Boston, used American Sign Language to celebrate Mass, while Father St. Martin spoke the signs out loud.
“Each one of us has special gifts given to us by God which we need to use for Him,” explained Father Casey in his homily.
“People might look down on you or me because they don’t appreciate the gifts that we have been given. But God gave them to us for a reason; He picked us for a reason.”
Father Casey tied this message to the Gospel reading for the day, the arrival of Mary at Elizabeth’s house at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel.
“He picked Mary for a reason too, and people looked down on her the same way they sometimes look down on us. As Mary tells us in her prayer from today’s reading, it is the meek and the lowly that God has picked to raise up.”
He concluded the homily by teaching the congregation how to say ‘I love you’ in ASL.
Rodriguez, who is also involved with the diocesan Ministry for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, first listened to Father Casey speak earlier this year and invited him to celebrate Mass with the SPRED community.
Renelda Maurice-Simmons, a parishioner at St Theresa and a volunteer with SPRED, noted, “We are so grateful that Father Parathanal allowed us to have our 35th anniversary celebration here,” she said. “The grounds here are such a great setting for an event like this.”
After Mass, the SPRED community celebrated their anniversary with a picnic featuring several dishes prepared by the Friends and their families, as well as activities such as a moonbounce and pinatas in the shape of a 3 and a 5.
“This is such a rewarding ministry to be involved with, but we’re always looking for more volunteers,” said Rodriguez.
“It takes a lot of support to keep this going on a diocese-wide basis.”
Anyone interested in learning more about opportunities to volunteer with SPRED is encouraged to visit https://www.dioceseofprovidence.org/spred for more information, or to reach out to Irma Rodriguez directly at irodriguez@dpvd.org.
Among the parishes which the SPRED Ministry lists as having an immediate opening for volunteers are St. Patrick’s in Providence, St. Catherine’s and St. Timothy in Warwick, Our Lady of Good Help in Mapleville, St. Joan of Arc in Cumberland, St. Vincent de Paul in Coventry, the Shrine of St. Theresa in Nasonville, and St. Phillip in Greenville.
