A sign of God’s love
I have a friend who is hearing impaired. She would go to Mass and sit there not understanding what was going on and twiddle her thumbs. As a priest, this made me feel really sad. I determined later to learn sign language because we were friends, and also because I wanted to make sure that other people could hear the same love of God that I got to hear and experience.
I was not always sensitive to the needs of others. When I was in college, however, there was a little kid I had an opportunity to interact with. The little boy was in an orphanage in Tijuana. He literally had nothing. There was also no indoor plumbing, and food consisted of refried beans. But he was the happiest kid there. He was always looking after the needs of the other kids.
Even though we only flew paper airplanes at each other and ran around a little bit, he was focused on making others happy. He taught me that it was in looking after the needs of others that God can be found. I left that orphanage a very changed man. I wanted to be like him in his selfless service. That is when I started to look into the priesthood seriously. Sign language is a way of being of even greater service to God.
As sign language is a visually dynamic language and I have a naturally expressive face, I cannot play poker, but I can bring the good news to my friend and others. I enjoy working with people with disabilities and especially in being involved with the Ohana Mass. I have fun as I get to express myself in ways I normally don’t by using hand gestures and facial expressions.
Isaiah 43 says, “You are precious in my eyes and I love you.” When I was in seminary, I posted this saying near the bathroom mirror. Upon waking in the morning, it was the first thing I saw. Yes, there was my hair all messed up, but there was also this message from God to me. This made me reflect, “If God can look at me when I don’t look my best, when I don’t feel all right physically or am spiritually dry, then I, as a priest, need to look at others the same way too.”
As a preacher of God’s news, I need to remind people that they are precious in God’s eyes. It is not only when they are good, because I’m not always good. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we do; whether we are able-bodied or disabled; whether we can hear or are deaf; what kind of abilities we have or not, we are precious in God’s eyes and God always loves us.
Father Marvin Samiano is a diocesan priest who is 22 years ordained. He was born in Kauai and raised in Hollywood, California. He is a parochial vicar at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
