Spring Day for disabled: Live 'life full
of promise and hope'

	Msgr. Tom Campion, center, director of the Apostolate to the Handicapped, is shown here with Adam Share of Monroe, left, and Tony Petit of Monroe. (Catholic Herald photo by Bill and Jo Boyce)

By Julianne Nornberg
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF

MONROE -- "Kindness is a language we all can speak. Even the deaf can hear it and the blind can see it."

This quote from Mother Teresa exemplifies the Apostolate to the Handicapped, said Msgr. Tom Campion, director of the Apostolate to the Handicapped of the Diocese of Madison, during the annual Spring Day.

The theme of the day was "Life full of promise and hope."

"We can have a life full of promise and hope every day by living with kindness, a language we all can speak," said Campion.

Approximately 1,000 people gathered for the special day April 12 at Monroe High School. Hundreds of volunteers helped the disabled and handicapped, who were guests at the Spring Day.

Live for Christ

Auxiliary Bishop George O. Wirz presided at the Mass. Concelebrants included Msgr. Paul J. Swain, Daniel T. Ganshert, and Duane R. Moellenberndt; and Frs. Kevin F. Dooley, Mike E. Klarer, Kent A. Schmitt, and Bill J. Seipp.

"If we want to live life full of promise and hope, it can't be for money, not to be number one, not for pleasure nor freedom from pain and from days when our hopes are dashed," said Wirz in his homily. "The promise we live for is for the living God in Jesus Christ, our God and brother who didn't have a life of pleasure and ease but fulfilled a mission when he faced suffering and death on the cross."

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Spread Christ's peace

Wirz said we must pray for the service men and women who are giving their lives for our country and for the Iraqi people who are in poverty and are suffering loss of life.

"When we pray, 'I give you peace, my peace I give you,' that's the time we give a sign of Christ's peace and give a peace that will last," he said.

Wirz pointed out the last paragraph in Campion's letter in the worship aid: "To be handicapped, to be a believer in today's world can be a lonely business. We need the help of community to resolve our doubts and sustain our faith. Community is an essential part of Christian witness, and the Apostolate to the Handicapped is an excellent community for all of us - for we are all givers and takers, helpers and being helped. We all have a role so that we can enjoy 'Life full of promise and hope.'"

The auxiliary bishop noted that it was St. Paul who said Jesus is our peace: peace in our world, in our nation, in our community, in our family, and in our hearts.

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