[Faith-Talk] Trying To Help A New Prospective NFB Member Who Is Catholic

[Brian Hatgelakas]

One way to help this catholic is to tell them the truth by sharing the
actual bible with them and planting a seed of this is how I was reborn when
I left catholic church in college.

On Wed, Mar 9, 2022 at 12:05 PM Kane Brolin via Faith-Talk <
faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Greetings.  This is my first-ever message to the Faith-talk list.
>
> I recently enjoyed a lengthy conversation with an 81-year-young lady
> who happens to be grandmother to my son's best friend.  While I am a
> dedicated Christian, I am not Roman Catholic; but Mary is very
> Catholic.  While pitching NFB-NEWSLINE® as a source for information
> that she could draw from to get a wide variety of information now that
> she has effectively lost her eyesight for reading purposes, Mary
> pointed out that nearly all of what she reads is Catholic in nature.
> A quick search of NEWSLINE®-enabled publications does not seem to
> identify anything in easily accessible format, such as the leading 20
> most popular publications aimed at American Catholic cconsumers of the
> printed word. https://blog.feedspot.com/catholic_magazines/
>
> I reside near the city of South Bend, which in a de facto sense serves
> as home to The University of Notre Dame.  But Notre Dame does not seem
> to have an active outreach to the blind in particular; and Mary seems
> to self-identify as a sympathizer of the Jesuits, and Notre Dame is
> not linked in any way, shape, or form to tghe the Jesuit monastic
> order.
>
> Mary spoke to me at length about being inspired by Father Robert
> Spitzer, a Jesuit priest and philosopher who used to be president of
> Gonzaga University who is about 70 years old today and who has
> publicly spoken of his eyesight loss.  But from the blog dedicated to
> this topic, it certainly does not appear that Fr. Spitzer is touting
> alternative techniques to blindness; instead, there seems to be a lot
> of discussion about the nature of his eyesight loss and in the hope
> that stem cell implantation will correct it.  So this does not help re
> my outreach on behalf of the Federation.
> https://blog.magiscenter.com/blog/latest-news-on-fr-spitzers-vision
>
> So I do not really know where to direct Mary so she can find a
> spiritual home among Federationists who are also serious about keeping
> up with social teaching and matters of faith and practice uniquely
> aimed toward the Catholic blind.
>
> BTW, Mary has acquired an iPhone but has little confidence yet in how
> to use this with VoiceOver.  She seems to have a very sharp mind, but
> has not yet embraced technology, and she does not read Braille.  Her
> eyesight has been compromised for decades by macular degeneration, but
> only now is she open to dealing with this rationally and
> self-identifying as blind without shame.  She would have much more
> incentive to up her game technologically if we could help her to
> embrace technology in a way that plugs her into relationships with
> blind Catholics who have a healthy perspective toward blindness.
>
> Thank you in advance for any help you might provide that leads to
> Mary's devotion to and
> self-identification with the Federation family as uniquely expressed
> in a Catholic setting.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Kane Brolin
> President, Michiana Chapter
> National Federation of the Blind of Indiana
> (574)386-8868 (mobile)
>
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-- 
*Brian P. Hatgelakas | *
318 Washington Road, #212, Pittsburg, PA 15216
C: 412.862.8644  *I* E: bhatgelakas at gmail.com