A few years ago, the Boston Red Sox hosted Disability Awareness Night to honor and salute fans with disabilities. The organizers selected a young man named Peter Rometti, who had autism, to sing the National Anthem.
It was painfully clear from the first few notes that Peter was not Pavarotti. But he was enthusiastic and gave his all.
A few lines into the song, he started to stutter. Then he started to laugh. And the crowd listened and laughed too. But they laughed with him, not at him. They clapped and cheered him on. Peter pulled himself together and continued the song.
Then, something wonderful happened. A couple of voices could be heard from the stands. They were singing with him. Very quickly a couple of voices became a couple of dozen and then a couple hundred and then a couple thousand. Soon, the entire stadium was singing with him, and for him — 36,000 people accompanied him, helped him, and carried him with their voices.
He made it to the end, to the land of the free and the home of the brave! When he finished, the crowd burst into cheers and applause. In response, Peter Rometti, the young man with autism, beamed with joy!
In a matter of minutes, a crowd of people who had come to watch a baseball game became a congregation of believers. They believed that Peter Rometti could make it. And the crowd helped him to get there. Certainly, the fans responded in a compassionate Christ-like way. The Holy Spirit was at work in that crowd.
The Holy Spirit
The fire of God’s love was given to us at Confirmation through the Holy Spirit. We need to rediscover this fire every day. We can ask the Holy Spirit to transform us into courageous witnesses of Christ so that, like the apostles and others, we can each day help to continue the work of Jesus, as Jean and members of her church did.
Jean was a mother who was filled with the love of Christ. She was involved in everything that had to do with the life of her church.
Then she had an eye removed due to cancer. The cancer didn’t slow her down until it spread to her breasts. She was quickly laid low by extensive therapy. She lost her hair and much weight. She looked terrible and she knew it, so she shut herself up in her home and requested no visitors.
Church members respected her request. Some accepted it with relief because it’s difficult to be with someone whom you love and care about who is in agony. Most church members stayed away just when she needed them most.
The problem was that Jean was a people person. She needed people. This friendly, involved, energetic woman was lonely and afraid.
A birthday surprise
When her birthday came, her congregation decided to take a risk. Having briefed her daughter-in-law about their plan, almost the entire congregation packed into cars after Sunday worship and headed to Jean’s home.
Jean was lying on the couch when the visitors marched in, blowing kisses or touching her hand. About a hundred of them gathered on the front lawn and sang Happy Birthday!
Her pastor exclaimed, ‘‘We stormed the barrier of her fear and of our own.” After this, visitors were welcome to come when she was up to it. For the next six weeks of her life, Jean never felt alone again.
Neither did Peter Rometti after singing the National Anthem! And neither should we.
In Romans 5:5-6, it says that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
So let us rejoice and be glad!
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.