April 2019

     When Fr. Tim asked me to consider submitting my testimony to the parish, I have to admit, I was hesitant.  While born and raised Catholic, my commitment to God and my faith through the years has not been impeccable.  As an example, I am certainly not in line for a perfect attendance ribbon for attending mass.  Given my admittedly flawed commitment to my Catholic faith, I worried that any testimony I gave would come across hypocritically.  I sense there are so many St. Catherine of Siena parishioners with more dedication to their faith than me.   Nonetheless, his request caused me to reflect considerably upon my faith and my relationship with God and led me to submit this.
           
     As you may or may not know, in the summer of 2016, I was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.  I won’t belabor this submission with details of my symptom progression.  Suffice it to say, over time, I will likely lose muscle function in most, if not all of my body.  That’s the Bad News.
           
     Now the Good News and where I find God’s hand at work.  It’s from all of you, the Catholic community I am so fortunate to belong to. 

      It starts with my wonderful wife of twenty-three years, Stephanie.  Despite her periodic threat to roll me out in my wheelchair in a rainstorm and leave me there, she has been unbelievable in her support of me since my diagnosis and I shudder to think where I’d be without her.  No one can ever appreciate all she does for me and our two children, especially as I have become more physically limited.  In many ways, our house has become a single parent household with an extra dependent to be accommodated for daily.  My children and I are so lucky to have such a dynamic wife and mother!   
My diagnosis came just as my daughter started college and my son started high school.  Despite some predictable rough patches for all of us adjusting to the news of my diagnosis, both are doing great, excelling in school and maintaining active extracurricular and social lives.  Further, I couldn’t ask for more help and encouragement than I get from by mother, mother-in-law, sisters, brother, and their families.  
 
     I have had the great fortune to attend Jesuit High School and have my two children attend St. Catherine of Siena.  When my diagnosis was first made public, we were inundated by calls, texts and visits from so many of you.  That outpouring of support went a long way to boosting our family morale and helped build our confidence that we could  fight this disease going forward.  The friendships we have made and the sacrifices those friends have offered and made for me and my family have truly been overwhelming.  Since my diagnosis, I have been moved to tears many times by offers from friends from Jesuit and St. Catherine that have included:
-an offer to trade homes so my handicap could be better accommodated;
-gift of a vehicle for my son, a new driver;
-innumerable instances of assistance from TeamGleason;
-assistance by Jesuit graduates as far away as Tokyo, Japan to assist me in getting beneficial medications not then available in the U.S.; and
-untold offers of monetary, fundraising, medical, logistical, and spiritual assistance from a multitude of people.
The above are just a few of so many offers we have received over the two and a half years since my diagnosis. 

     I believe the following email message I received shortly after my diagnosis from one of my high school classmates succinctly represents the type of responses I have received from so many:

This is a journey on which your '86 brothers will accompany you every step of the way.
 
We all ask only two things:
 
1. What do you need?
2. When do you need it?
 
     Given this snapshot that is representative of the responses I have received over these many months, how can God’s hand not be working through this community I am so grateful to be a part of?   So, when I reflect on where I feel God’s presence in my life, thankfully my answer is, it’s in you, my Catholic community.

Ever gratefully yours,
Jay Quinlan
AMDG