"A LITTLE KISS FROM GOD"

VATICAN CITY — CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Whenever he’s in a crowd, Pope Francis kisses lots of children. The father of one special boy, who got a special kiss and embrace on Easter, has written a blog about the embrace and its meaning.

The boy, Dominic Gondreau, has cerebal palsy. He is spending several months in Rome with his parents and four siblings while his father, a professor of theology at Dominican-run Providence College in Providence, R.I., serves as faculty resident director for students studying in Rome.

The dad, Paul Gondreau, said his son “has already shared in Christ’s cross more than I have throughout my entire life multiplied a thousand times over.”

And while Dominic’s parents help him walk, stretch his muscles, wheel him around and care for him in every way, dad says, “He shows me how to love.”

“We were all moved to tears” by the pope’s embrace of Dominic, he said.

In an interview with CNN, Dominic’s mother, Christiana, described the moment as being “like a little kiss from God.”

Our friends at Salt and Light Television, the Catholic channel in Canada, have included the moment in their video, about 10 minutes and 30 seconds into the piece.

Visit Catholic News Service Website at http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/like-a-little-kiss-from-god/

History of the Apostolate to the Handicapped

 On October 31, 1967, Bishop Cletus O’Donnell appointed Father Thomas Campion to start some kind of a program and work “for the handicapped”. 

At the time, Father Campion was Associate Pastor of St. James Parish, Madison; Diocesean Director of the Catholic Youth Organization (C.Y.O.) and Chaplain of Madison General Hospital.

The first work of the yet unnamed organization was the television Mass. Through the generosity of Mrs. Elizabeth Murphy, then owner of WISC-TV, Channel 3 in Madison, the first television Mass was shown on the first Sunday of Advent in 1967. After Mrs. Murphy’s death, her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Burns choose to continue their family’s loyal and generous tradition of the television Mass. Over the years, it has aired at different times and was originally 45 minutes in length.

It is a lasting tribute to the generosity of the Morgan-Burns family and the entire staff and management of WISC-TV, both past and present, that the television Mass continues to air every Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m.

The next visible sign of this new program was the first “day for the handicapped” on January 6, 1968 held at Holy Name Seminary which was titled “Little Christmas with the Bishop”. Sixty handicapped persons attended, which at the time was considered overwhelming because of the large number of handicapped gathered in one place.

The Apostolate to the Handicapped received its name when a contest was held to name the new organization. Bernadette Wagner of Sun Prairie is credited with winning the contest and the idea for the name.

In 1971, Father Campion was transferred to be Chaplain at St. Clare Hospital in Monroe, and with the good foundation that had been established at St. James in Madison, the Apostolate to the Handicapped office also moved to Monroe, Wisconsin.

The Apostolate to the Handicapped was and is currently funded totally on volunteer contributions as a living testimony of the charity of people who show they really care.

Fr. Larry Bakke is the current Director for the Apostolate to the Handicapped, as well as pastor at St. Clare of Assisi Parish, Monroe.