St. Herman the Cripple
This commentary(go to page 4) comes from Fr. James Gould, the Chaplain for the Catholic Medical Association. He discussed St. Herman the Cripple, who was born with spina bifida, a cleft palate, and cerebral palsy. In one of these three lesions(spina bifida), prenatal diagnosis can be used to counsel the mother to abort her baby.
I know Fr. Gould, so I started reading the article and thought that his comments were relevant to something going on in our circle of friends. A friend's prenatal ultrasound may have shown a serious congenital defect in the baby, and the news is extremely hard to take. We are praying for Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin(St. Therese of Liseaux's parents) to intercede for the child.
Fr. Gould makes the point that the handicapped can teach us a great deal about holiness. I would add that a child does not have to have the natural talents that St. Herman the Cripple was blessed with to teach us and to make us love God more and more. Even those children who do not talk, or walk, or even live long after birth can be an inspiration to sacrifice and mortify ourselves out of love for God. Doing what we can for the 'least' of our brothers will be pleasing to God in ways we cannot imagine.
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