Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy gives the homily at a Mass on May 9 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle for people living with mental health challenges. The Mass honoring St. Dymphna – the patron saint of those suffering from mental illnesses –was sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Deaf and Disabilities Ministry. (Catholic Standard photo by Rachel Lincoln)
Celebrating a Mass for people experiencing mental health challenges, Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy said people facing such difficulties have gifts to offer to the world.
“People facing mental health challenges struggle so very often to understand what this means and how to cope and how to flourish and how to give their gift to the world that God has given them to give,” he said.
The May 9 Mass – which also marked the feast day of St. Dymphna, the patron saint of people with mental illnesses – was held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and was sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Deaf and Disabilities Ministry, which is tasked with improving accessibility across the archdiocese.
Saint Dymphna, a martyr born in Ireland, is credited with opening a hospital for the poor and sick in the seventh century in what is now Belgium that became a refuge for those suffering from various mental conditions.
In his homily, Cardinal McElroy stressed that while the resurrection of Jesus Christ should be the center of Christians’ faith, often they can only see the truth of it in a limited way.
“We now see through a glass darkly, not perceiving the beauty of the resurrection, that fullness of the life of God, but seeing only through the glass, darkly,” the cardinal said, citing an image St. Paul uses in his first letter to the Corinthians.
Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy gives the homily at a Mass on May 9 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle for people living with mental health challenges. The Mass honoring St. Dymphna – the patron saint of those suffering from mental illnesses –was sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Deaf and Disabilities Ministry. (Catholic Standard photo by Rachel Lincoln)
Cardinal McElroy mentioned his own sister’s struggle with bipolar disorder. “It was hard to be there for her, because, it was, for me, like seeing through the glass darkly, to understand the world that was hers, and the beauty that was hers,” he said. But despite that struggle, the cardinal said, “the beauty of faith, hope, and love were unleashed in the world by her being among us.”
Our society is “clumsy in its understanding” of mental illness, the cardinal said.
“What is unfortunate in so much of our humanity [is) somehow people feel better when they can look down and judge others. They feel better about themselves, which is a terrible reality. It’s one of the real cancers of the human spirit,” he said.
That is not the message the Church gives to the world, Cardinal McElroy said. “The love of Christ, and the beauty that is within each of your hearts and souls is precious, and is not diminished by any limitation. It is precious in God’s eyes, it is precious in the Church’s eyes, and it must become more and more precious in the eyes of society as a whole.”
Msgr. W. Ronald Jameson, the rector of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, gives Communion to a woman during a May 9 Mass where prayers were offered for people living with mental health challenges. (Catholic Standard photo by Rachel Lincoln)
At the end of the Mass, Cardinal McElroy referenced what he considered a positive trend among those receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. “Within the past 20 years, now when I do Confirmations, maybe two out of 100 in a large group will pick the name St. Dymphna, which is a public sign of their understanding and their grappling with mental challenges on their part, or the part of somebody in their family,” the cardinal said. “To me it’s always a sign that young people are leading us in this understanding,” an understanding that was not present 30 or 40 years ago, he added.
People pray during a May 9 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington that was held to pray for people living with mental health challenges. (Catholic Standard photos by Rachel Lincoln)
The archdiocese’s new Mental Health Advisory Commission, which was formed eight months ago, helped organize the Mass. The members of the commission include Joseph Zappala and Christina Beauzile, who run a counseling and therapy service.
According to Beauzile, the goal of the commission is to improve the Church’s communication of mental health resources available throughout the archdiocese. “We really try to understand what the need is and see different ways we can fill the need,” she said.
The commission is in dialogue with diocesan leadership to improve the archdiocese’s resources, with Rachel Chung, another member, working with diocesan leadership to improve resources that the archdiocese offers.
Chung has been “working very closely with the cardinal to get the archdiocese really involved in understanding the importance of this,” Beauzile said.
Also on the commission is Judy Barr, who has been involved since 2003 in a group that prays the rosary and attends a Mass for those suffering from mental health conditions. The group started at St. Anselm’s Abbey in Washington, D.C., but now meets at the Pope Francis Center in Landover Hills, Maryland. She underscored the value of prayer for those who are suffering, saying “God actually answers these prayers.”
However, Barr said she would like to see the archdiocese do more than just pray. “We’re a very small group at our rosary Mass,” she said. Barr added that she believes the archdiocese still has work to do to improve its mental health ministry.
Roman Martino is a regular attendee of the rosary and Mass, and has been for more than 20 years. “Most of us (attending that Mass) have a mental illness,” Martino said. “We love each other a lot. We have a lot in common.”
Martino suffers from depression. “I want to suffer for Jesus,” he said.
However, he said much of the suffering those who have mental conditions face is avoidable. Martino believes that the psychiatric system, which he said isolated and over-medicated him in the past, is in dire need of reform. “They still abuse people,” he said. “I think four-point restraints and isolation should be illegal. It never does anybody any good.”
Martino promotes a more humane treatment system. “Everybody has God in their heart. We should treat each other with respect and help each other,” he said.
He also said police reform is needed. “All police, all cities, should learn how to treat the mentally ill with respect. When one person is sick and hurting, it affects everybody.”
Those interviewed agreed overcoming the stigma of mental illness is necessary for progress. “It means the world to us to get support from the top, from the leader of our Church” in the archdiocese, Zappala said, praising Cardinal McElroy’s advocacy at the Mass, which he said was both prayerful and directed toward social action.
Cardinal McElroy’s presence is “helping to get rid of the stigma, helping to not marginalize people,” Beauzile added.
The rosary and Mass for persons living with mental health challenges occurs on the second Saturday of each month at 11 a.m. at the Pope Francis Center, 7202 Buchanan Street in Landover Hills, Maryland. The Office of Deaf and Disabilities Ministry is also available to help parishes form a ministry of their own to support those living with mental health challenges and their families.
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