Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Singing Without a Voice

I was visiting another Church this weekend and witnessed something I thought was simply wonderful.

First of all, the Church itself was huge. It had a Byzantine-like architecture on the outside, and large, marble columns throughout the inside. The altar was equally impressive, with a few areas just off it for lecterns, singers, etc.

During the homily, I realized that there was a woman in one of these areas who was translating what the priest was saying into sign language. She was facing a a group of pews to the far left, and I figured this Church had a large group of deaf parishioners.

It wasn't until the next musical intercession that I realized there was just one deaf parishioner ... and he was proudly singing in sign language.

It was an emotional sight to behold. Here was a gentleman who had a physical disability, and it didn't stop him from proclaiming his love for God and the Mass. With each refrain, he proudly thrust his arms up and around. He was singing louder and with more emotion with his hands than most of us were with our voice.

I will certainly not forget it next time I sing a hymn at Mass.

God bless.

P.S. I also thought it was great that the Church provided this service. A perfect example of a shepherd leaving no sheep behind ....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story! I will think of it to the next time I hear a hymn. I also like to visit different churches. I find them to be so beautiful and especially the older ones.

Anne said...

What a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing that with us. What made this story even more meaningfull is when you mentioned that there was only one deaf person. It is beautiful that they provided this service just for him. How awesome.