"I am a man, just like you"--Saint Brother Andre

Here are some links and excerpts of some recent stories I've written.

I especially enjoyed this one, because I this is the first time I've ever counted on lip reading for an interview! And Fr. Joe Bruce is delightful. I also met Fr. Peter Monty and accompanied the two Jesuit priests to the Ottawa Deaf Golden Age Club. It was great to be there and see the warmth, fellowship and fun as people played cards together. It was also very quiet except for the occasional laughter or whoops for joy at a winning hand. Lots of signing, though, which I find very beautiful to watch.

Father Joseph Bruce finds joy in ministering to the hearing or the deaf

By Deborah Gyapong

Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA (CCN)--Father Joseph Bruce has been deaf from birth, but much of his ministry has been among the hearing.

In fact, among his favorite years as a Jesuit priest were the six he spent at St. Mary of the Angels Church, an inner city parish in Boston’s Roxbury section, where he served a mixed congregation of black and Hispanic Catholics, many of whom were immigrants from the Dominican Republic.

Most of all he loves worship and the Eucharist.

Bruce reads lips and he knows many variations of sign language. He speaks clearly even though he has never heard a spoken word his whole life.

But reading lips is hard work. Just as everyone’s handwriting is different, everyone forms words differently, some more clearly than others. He likens the effort that goes into lip reading to running a marathon every day. And even at home, living with fellow Jesuits, he relied on this skill to communicate.

That’s why, when he thought about taking a sabbatical, he chose to come to Ottawa to live in the Jesuit residence with Fr. Peter Monty, a chaplain to the deaf in Ontario who signs and celebrate Sunday Masses for the Catholic deaf community at Canadian Martyrs Church. The two have known each other for decades.

Bruce arrived in Ottawa in October where he took turns cooking for the Jesuit residence on Sunnyside Avenue, did some reading and quickly found himself enjoying St. René Goupil Ottawa Catholic Deaf Community, named after one of the Canadian martyrs who also suffered from hearing loss.

Like Goupil, who was initially dismissed from the novitiate by his superiors in France because of health difficulties and never did become a priest, Bruce did not find the road to ordination easy.

And this on Catholic Christian Outreach's Rise Up Conference in Montreal last week:

“I am only a man, just like you” theme of CCO Rise Up 2010 Conference

By Deborah Gyapong
Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA (CCN)--When 600 young people gathered in Montreal Dec. 28-31 for the annual Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) Rise Up conference, Saint Brother Andre’s words provided the theme: “I am only a man, just like you.”

“More than seven decades after his death in Montreal, this humble porter remains an inspiration to Catholics — not only for his faith in St. Joseph, Canada’s patron saint, but also for his devotion to the sick who came to him for help and later claimed to be healed by him,” said Salt and Light Media Foundation CEO Father Thomas Rosica in his keynote address Dec. 28, kicking off the annual conference. Salt and Light TV, Canada Catholic digital television network had produced a documentary on the recently-canonized saint after nine months of research.

“André’s story was about accepting the little he had and turning it into a holy act,” Rosica said. “His story is the antithesis of what makes someone famous, notable and heroic today. He would have never been hired as a consultant or been invited to a talk show – no more so than someone who shines shoes or collects garbage for a living would ever be noted for his good work.”