If we truly believe in the sanctity of human life, then we have a moral duty to care for the disabled and helpless in our society. Henri Nouwen was a professor at universities who then left his academic life to live in a community of disabled people (L’Arche) where mentally handicapped persons and their assistants attempt to live together according to the gospel. Such organisations are testimony of how the love of Christ can be worked out in the difficult, messy business of life.
People who look at seemingly broken bodies in wheelchairs might, without thinking deeply about the matter, feel they would be “better off dead”, a view that is behind many of the arguments in favour of euthanasia or abortion. It is this response of sympathetic despair that L’Arche seeks to combat – by showing that however damaged a person’s mind or body may be, there is always the possibility of relationship with him or her: a relationship that in an extraordinary and inexplicable way, will change the “normal” person and bring them to a deeper understanding of what life is really about.[1]
Such views are challenging, time-consuming and extremely difficult to sustain, but there are many people who can testify that disability, helplessness and vulnerability do not have to mean uselessness and irrelevance. The parents I know who have children with Down’s Syndrome or Rett Syndrome affirm that their children teach them so much about unconditional love, joy and wellbeing. We are called to care for the helpless and vulnerable and to love with all our hearts, for in loving others, we demonstrate our love for Christ. (1 Jn 3:16-18)
[1] http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2014/05/05/the-witness-of-communities-like-larche-is-a-profound-and-necessary-one-for-our-world-today/