PROVIDENCE — The blind, the deaf, the lame, the infirm ... Two millennia ago, Jesus of Nazareth routinely encountered crowds of these and others whose afflictions often left them feeling lonely, marginalized by society, and bereft of hope.
Yet, because they’d heard – and thus came to believe – that he could either cure them or love them when no one else would, they sought Jesus in the flesh. Scripture tells us that, throughout the Holy Land at that time, Jesus frequently did the former and always did the latter.
A scene unfolded in Providence this past Saturday, Sept. 6, which would not have been unfamiliar to Our Lord. Several families attended a Jubilee Mass at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul hosted by the Office of the Apostolate with People with Disabilities. The Da Luz family — Peggy, Amos, and their daughter Alexis —members of St. Bernard Church in North Kingstown, were among those who made the Diocese of Providence’s 2025 Jubilee Year pilgrimage.
“Alexis is our gift, to have a child like her,” Peggy proclaimed. “She brings a lot of love to our family,” Amos concurred. “I’m so emotionally attached to Alexis. All the help she requires, she tells me five, six times a day that she loves me. It’s brought me so much enjoyment, taking care of her. It’s not a chore. I love to do it. I never thought I would be like that.”
Now a 38-year-old woman, Alexis has been confined to her wheelchair since birth due to a rare condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which can produce joint contractures, underdeveloped muscles, and deformed limbs, among other debilitating symptoms. A talkative child, Alexis also developed, as she grew older, an anxiety-induced speech impairment that today makes communicating a severe challenge for her.
You could be forgiven for thinking that such a fate would test Alexis’ trust in God, but her parents insist that, whatever she lacks in physical ability, she’s been more than gifted in faith.
“Alexis,” recalled Amos, “loves to go to church, participates in all the songs, and she talks about Jesus all the time. Instead of going on YouTube, she watches religious programs. Her favorite channel is EWTN. If she hears about a religious festival or feast coming up, she wants to attend. She kind of helped me get back into church, because she was always solid, believing, always talking about it. She never strayed.”
Peggy shared an anecdote of finding Alexis chattering away in her room around age 4. “And I said, ‘Alexis, who are you talking to?’ She said, ‘I’m talking to Jesus.’ And I backed right out of the room. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m not going to interrupt that.’”
Amos and Peggy credit much of Alexis’ unwavering faith to her nearly lifelong involvement with and friendships made through the Apostolate’s Special Religious Education program (SPRED), which Irma I. Rodriguez oversees as its director. For the past quarter-century, Rodriguez – herself the mother of a special-needs child – has dedicated her life’s work to SPRED’s inclusive mission.
“The people in SPRED have become like family to me,” Rodriguez remarked. This in part explains why she spearheaded the Providence pilgrimage to help them encounter the Lord.
Jubilees have a rich history in the Old Testament and in Christian tradition. In “Spes Non Confundit,” his papal bull announcing the 2025 Jubilee Year’s Pilgrims of Hope theme, the late Pope Francis expressed his desire that, “For all of us, may the Jubilee be an opportunity to be renewed in hope. God’s word helps us find reasons for that hope.”
The Holy See anticipates some 35 million pilgrims will have visited Vatican City by the end of this 2025 Jubilee alone. Of course, because not every faithful Catholic can travel that far, dioceses such as Providence organize local Jubilee pilgrimages.
SPRED members and their loved ones began their Saturday with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, recitation of the Holy Rosary, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Immediately following, Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., celebrated Holy Mass. A sign-language interpreter helped facilitate the involvement of the entire congregation.
“Anyone here ever feel alone? Anyone here ever feel like there’s nobody to help you? Anyone here ever feel so sad, that there’s no future?” the Bishop asked the congregation during his homily. “That’s called hopelessness. During this Jubilee Year, Jesus reminds us that you always have hope. Jesus is the cure for hopelessness.
“Jesus says, ‘You’re never alone. I’m always here to help. In me, you find everything you need.’ He brought sight to the blind, the lame [he healed] … gave friendship to those on the margins of society. He forgave sinners and brought the dead to life. Today, he still brings joy to the sorrowful. In Jesus, you can find Jubilee – our hope for forgiveness, our hope for healing, and our only hope for salvation – 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”
With no foreseeable medical cure for their daughter’s condition, what, then, is the particular hope of parents like Peggy and Amos DaLuz?
“We always hope,” Peggy asserted, “that [Alexis and people like her] will be included. That’s what we’ve always hoped for. Inclusion. Anywhere. Certainly in the Church. It’s so important to us and our family.”
