America's Largest Catholic Newspaper
To the Editor:
In this day and age when it seems like Catholic schools are dying a slow death and closing their doors, God opens a door and gives parents another reason to fight to keep them open. On May 2 my two boys, John and Matthew, made their First Communion at Sacred Heart, Staten Island. As I listened to Father Louis Jerome’s homily, I thought about John and the struggles he’s endured all his life and the challenge to get to that day. John, 8, is autistic and goes to a public school equipped to suit his special needs. I taught him religious education at home under the guidance of Francine Rizzuto, CCD director at Sacred Heart.
The good people of Sacred Heart School, mainly second-grade teacher Patricia McKee, included John in the ceremony as if he belonged to that class along with his younger brother. Miss McKee even delegated to John the important role of bringing up the Host. Although I feared John might make a mistake, God watched over him. He was reverent and respectful, and sang all the songs with the class at the altar appropriately. He received Jesus and went back to the pew and prayed as he was supposed to. You wouldn’t know that John wasn’t “officially” a student of Sacred Heart.
Where else would you find the love, the attention, the acceptance, the guidance and the people who are actually following the true teachings of Jesus Christ? Catholic school is a sacrifice for parents, but the rewards your children receive are priceless.
Theresa Marie Basile
Staten Island
