A Vocation Disabled
SEARCHING FOR COMMUNITY
It was happening again. I bared my soul to reveal my spiritual restlessness, my floundering for a place to belong, a true community. And once again, someone was telling me I should be satisfied with what I had. After all, I was a baptized Catholic, therefore an integral member of the Church, and I had been permitted to take private vows — poverty, chastity, and obedience — approved by the bishop and renewable on a yearly basis. Why could I not be grateful for the graces I had received?
If only it were so simple. If only it were as simple as following a separate set of guidelines for people with disabilities.
Due to an accident at birth, I lost my sight completely. Although my family did their best to give me a sense of well-being, my parents divorced when I was young. As I grew up, I felt alone and abandoned. However, in my misery, I turned to God. I came to understand that life is empty without Him. Without God, everything seems purposeless. While my heart ached for peace in so many ways, I found immense fulfillment in Him.
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The bishop must announce to the rich and poor, to the powerful and weak the fullness of truth, which sometimes irritates and offends, even if it always liberates.
To "succumb" to others, to wish for things because others have them, to want things because others want them, is to lose one's independence, one's own authority.
Catholic defenders of capitalism might argue it must be subjected to and bound by some higher authority rooted in religion, culture, or the natural law.