• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Eva Sanderson and Meagan Rector sing and clap along with performers in the talent show April 17 at a L’Arche event at St. Katharine Drexel in Frederick. (Karen Osborne | CR Staff)|

‘All made in God’s image’: Frederick L’Arche events bring together those with and without disabilities

April 24, 2015
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Disabilities Ministry, Local News, News

Maria Hitchcock, a member of the “Best Buds” student group at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, teaches the moves to a line dance to a participant in the April 17 L’Arche event at St. Katharine Drexel in Frederick. (KAREN OSBORNE | CR STAFF)

FREDERICK – Clad in a bright pink shirt, pink sweatpants and pink tennis shoes, Meagan Rector couldn’t contain the grin that engulfed her face as she watched a group of students from Mount St. Mary’s University sing Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

Rocking back and forth in her seat at St. Katharine Drexel Parish April 17 while the performers waved their arms and mugged for the crowd, the 21-year-old woman with developmental disabilities clapped giddily to the soulful beat.

Minutes later, it was Meagan’s turn to stand in the spotlight.

With some 75 people watching, the ever-smiling parishioner of St. Joseph-on-Carrollton Manor in Buckeystown used sign language to sing along with the “I Love You” song from PBS’s “Barney and Friends.” Her gentle performance received just as much applause – perhaps even a bit more – than the one from the college students.

“This is wonderful because it gives Meagan an outlet,” Jose Rector, Meagan’s father and a St. Joseph parishioner, told the Catholic Review after the performance. “As soon as we tell her we are coming here, it’s something she looks forward to all day long.”

For the last two years, people with developmental disabilities have been gathering once a month at St. Katharine to enjoy meeting people in the wider community and participate in fun activities. The gatherings are organized by Quest for L’Arche, a Frederick-based committee that is working to establish a L’Arche home in Frederick County.

L’Arche, which means “The Ark” in French, is an international organization founded in 1964 to build a sense of community between those with and without disabilities. L’Arche provides lifelong homes where people with and without disabilities live together.

Pam Zusi, a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Frederick and a committee member of Quest for L’Arche, said there are currently 140 L’Arche communities around the world. If a home is established in Frederick, it would become the first in Maryland, she said.

Approximately 10 students from Mount’s St. Mary’s “Best Buds” program, which reaches out to those with disabilities, participate in the Quest for L’Arche events every month at St. Katharine. April 17’s gathering included a magic show, singing, dancing and crafts – with the Mount students working directly with those with disabilities. Youths from the parish also assisted.

Asked why he would spend a Friday night in service of those with disabilities, Patrick Flaherty, a 22-year-old senior at the Mount, disagreed with the notion that he is “serving” others or “volunteering.”

“This is just me hanging out with a bunch of awesome people who are really special,” the political science major explained. “They are my friends and it’s like I’m hanging out with friends on a Friday night.”

In participating in the program, Flaherty said he learned that although an individual may have disabilities, he or she is no less a person than he is.

“They may communicate differently,” he said, “but that’s the only difference I see.”

Claire McGrath, a 21-year-old Mount senior biology major and leader of the Best Buds program, called it a “beautiful gift” to be present to people with disabilities – some of whom cannot speak.

“Whenever I come to these events, I’m reminded of the importance of just being present to people,” said McGrath, a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi in Fulton. “There are so many different ways to communicate with people. Sometimes it might be simply sitting next to someone and being there with your whole heart and your whole mind.”

McGrath said she was inspired by the theology of Jean Vanier, a Catholic theologian and founder of L’Arche.

“He talks a lot about how we are called to reveal one another’s beauty and how every person is sacred and valuable,” said McGrath, who will be moving to Florida to become an assistant at a L’Arche residence in Jacksonville after graduation. “Our call is to reveal that beauty to one another and to show that we are all made in God’s image. I believe that’s what God is calling me to do – to see the beauty in other people and bring it out.”

How to support L’Arche in Frederick:

Quest for L’Arche is currently in a $15,000 fundraising drive to raise money to establish a L’Arche home, which would accommodate up to three people with disabilities and others without disabilities in Frederick. For more information, email questforlarchemd@gmail.com or write to Quest for L’Arche, P.O. Box 1636, Frederick, MD 21702.
 

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

George P. Matysek Jr.

George Matysek, a member of the Catholic Review staff since 1997, has served as managing editor since September 2021. He previously served as a writer, senior correspondent, assistant managing editor and digital editor of the Catholic Review and the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

In his current role, he oversees news coverage of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and is a host of Catholic Review Radio.

George has won more than 100 national and regional journalism and broadcasting awards from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, the Catholic Press Association, the Associated Church Press and National Right to Life. He has reported from Guyana, Guatemala, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

A native Baltimorean, George is a proud graduate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School in Essex. He holds a bachelor's degree from Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a master's degree from UMBC.

George, his wife and five children live in Rodgers Forge. He is a parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day
  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Trainor to retire from post as Mount St. Mary’s president in 2024
  • Movie Review: ’65’
  • Sister Mary Kathleen Marie Saffa dies at 86

| Latest Local News |

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

| Latest World News |

New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God ‘for his life, ministry’

Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say

Pro-life groups seek commitments on federal abortion limits from 2024 GOP contenders

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Papa Francisco: Sin la fuerza del Espíritu Santo, la evangelización es publicidad vacía
  • New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God ‘for his life, ministry’
  • Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say
  • Pro-life groups seek commitments on federal abortion limits from 2024 GOP contenders
  • Pope: Without power of Holy Spirit, evangelization is empty advertising
  • West Virginia parishes, people help Ukrainians find safe haven in Mountain State
  • Rosary project supplies ‘long-range, heart-changing weapons’ to Ukraine
  • Bishop calls ‘reproductive justice’ lecture series with abortion doula ‘scandal,’ ‘unworthy’ of Notre Dame university
  • Movie Review: ‘In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis’

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED