The clinical label of being disabled ignores a dimension of personhood. That is we are created to be in relationship with others. In his encyclical John Paul II said “Within the family each member is accepted, respected and honored precisely because he or she is a person and if any family member is in greater need, the care which he or she receives is all the more intense and attentive.”

People often say that they could not handle a child, spouse, parent, etc. with a disability. But we are not given a child, spouse, family member, etc with a disability. These individuals enter into the world in a relationship with us and that changes everything. We are not called to care for a disability. We are called to love a particular person, and caring for him or her grows out of that love.