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Vocation Prayer "W hat is it like to ‘hear' a hand? You have to be deaf to understand!” Thus begins a poem written by deaf poet Willard J. Madsen. It was given to me when I visited Fr. Guy Blair, SCJ, who was recently assigned to San Francesco di Paola Church in San Antonio to work with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministry. [He began his ministry there last summer] The poem offers hearing people an insight into the everyday lives of those who cannot hear. Although he is not deaf, Fr. Blair has dedicated his years in the priesthood to trying to bridge the gap between the hearing community and the deaf community in the Catholic Church. But the inspiration he gains from deaf people began long before his seminary days." A tale of two women Fr. Blair grew up in Connecticut. When he was 10, a neighbor beckoned him to her porch and asked him to explain the term “resurrection.” He could not understand why this grown woman, whom he saw in church all the time, did not know the meaning of such a basic tenet of the church. Then she told him she was deaf, that she had never heard a sermon, a song or a prayer in church. Young Guy Blair and his neighbor began a friendship that would last until the woman died. He admired and was inspired by her. Another childhood encounter was not as pleasant. Fr. Blair remembers an elderly woman who always dressed in black and sat on the steps of city hall. Neighborhood children called her “crazy” and often chased her or threw stones at her. Yet she too often sat in church.
“I was struck by her isolation,” Fr. Blair said.
Knowing these two women helped shape Father Blair's ministry. While in the seminary, he took classes at night and learned sign language. He then went on to minister to deaf communities in Toronto, Canada; Madison, Wis. and Chicago. Sobering numbers T here are approximately 23 million deaf persons in the United States. Yet of this number, only 5 percent attend any church. According to Fr. Blair, this is because most churches do not have interpreters or people skilled in sign language who would make the church accessible to the deaf community. He is one of nine priests in the United States whose full-time ministry is largely working with deaf people. A need for understanding Fr. Blair hopes to promote an understanding and acceptance between hearing and deaf people.
“Deaf people do not want to become hearing people,” he said. “Unlike, say, Hispanic people who learn English to be able to communicate with English speaking people, deaf people cannot ‘learn' to hear. They just want to be accepted. They are not sick people needing a cure.”
Shaping the liturgy Fr. Blair plans to continue some of the activities currently available to deaf Catholics at San Francesco di Paola. These include a weekly Bible study; weekly adoration, meditation and prayer; Sunday liturgy (an 11:15 a.m. Mass which will now be “symcommed”—spoken and signed—by Fr. Blair) and an active CCD program. He also sees a need for lector training.
“All privileges should be open to deaf Catholics,” he said. “They should be included as full members of the Body of Christ. This includes involving them in services as lectors, Eucharistic ministers, greeters and ushers.”
Fr. Blair also envisions starting a summer camp for deaf children. But before making any changes or additions to the program, Fr. Blair plans a meeting with the Catholic deaf community. He wants their members to help shape the liturgy and define his role as they envision.
“Deaf people are always being ‘done to' or ‘done for,”' he explains. “But this is their church, and I am here to serve them.”
Fr. Blair appreciates the Archdiocese of San Antonio being enlightened in seeing the value of our deaf and hard of hearing parishioners. He also appreciates the support and contributions of the Knights of Columbus to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Ministry. He looks forward to continuing here the ministry he began so long ago.
“I love working with deaf people,” he said. “When I first started, I thought I would bring God to them. But what has happened is that they have shown me God — a very patient God.”
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