"In everything we do we share our gifts," said Dolores Wilson, a former nun who helped launch the District chapter 20 years ago and who served as a facilitator at last month's dinner at the house in Northeast. "We are sick of labels. We are friends. We are a community."
As the former head of disabled ministries for the Archdiocese of Washington, Wilson has worked to make its parishes more welcoming to people with a range of disabilities. But there are still cases nationwide of churches denying Communion to the developmentally disabled on the grounds that they do not fully understand the sacred ritual, she said, and she winces when she hears about them.
From left are: Frank Grim, Brother Joseph O. Carm, Dolores Wilson and Tom Draper, waiting to play the guitar. Some Faith and Light members regularly celebrate Mass.
(Photos Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)
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Mary Gagliardi, whose 38-year-old son is in the District-based chapter, said her faith is deepened by the experience of worshiping with him and his peers.
"Their faith is the faith the whole world needs," she said. "It's a simple faith. It carries right through their lives."
The Rev. Joseph Sileo, a Catholic priest who has offered Mass for the Faith and Light community at various sites in the District, has noticed a similar enriching effect. He keeps his sermons short during the Masses, explaining the mysteries of faith with simple stories.
"Most of us who join Faith and Light feel we are much more rewarded than we give," said Sileo, who is assigned to Holy Face Catholic Church in St. Mary's County.
Local members have made pilgrimages to Ireland and France. But more often, a few friends will get together informally, like the group that met last month for dinner.
On another recent evening, a few Faith and Light members headed to the regular Mass at St. Anthony's Catholic Church of Washington in Northeast. The group filled a pew near the back of the sanctuary. Gagliardi's son, Tom Draper, was on the end, singing the hymns wholeheartedly. When the time came to prepare for Communion, an usher came to the Faith and Light friends and asked whether four of them could bring the bread and wine to the altar.
There was a flurry of anticipation. Who would go?
The congregation was singing: "Take my hands, Lord, and my feet. Touch my heart, Lord, and speak through me."
Draper and his housemate, Tom Bovich, rose and took the tall, shining candles. Kimberlee Kline shyly lifted the basket of hosts, and Ruppert took the cruet of wine, holding it firmly with both hands.
Slowly and attentively, the friends made their way from the back of the church up the aisle to the altar.
