New Orleans parish offers monthly Mass for disabled children

Published: 2004-12-29

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Most parents never will face the sideways glances, the quizzical expressions and the imposing institutional obstacles that Joy and Jay Zainey have experienced while trying to worship together with their three children on a Sunday morning. The Zaineys' youngest child, Andrew, 16, suffers from severe autism and a rare chromosomal abnormality that make it virtually impossible for him to attend Mass because his behavior can become disruptive to others in the congregation. The Zaineys and other parents with severely disabled children understand that it is not possible to take their children to Mass frequently. But that changed when Vincentian Father Mark Ford of St. Joseph Church in New Orleans began offering a monthly Sunday Mass for families with disabled children. "As I heard their story and their experiences of not being able to celebrate as a family, I knew that was not right," Father Ford told The Clarion Herald, archdiocesan newspaper of New Orleans. "The church needs to provide that service," he said. "Families with disabled children need spiritual care and support."

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