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All Souls Day, 2020

Heavenly Father,

We commend to Your loving care

all the autistic souls who have gone before us:

Those whom we knew well;

Those we knew only from a distance;

Those with whom we worked, as helpers and as colleagues;

Those who were our neighbors;

Those who were our classmates;

Those who stand out in our memories

as quirky, different, eccentric and odd;

Those who were accepted and welcomed;

Those who were marginalized,

bullied,

mocked,

and turned away;

Those who communicated easily with others;

Those who communicated without words;

Those whom others found difficult to reach;

Those who were overwhelmed by the sensory demands of their environment;

Those within our own families

who succeeded;

who struggled;

who knew that they were autistic;

who wondered why they were different;

who were accepted with love and patience;

who were difficult to connect with;

Those who died alone

in group homes;

in mental institutions;

in hospitals;

in nursing homes;

in isolation from others;

in homelessness;

Those who died without the benefit of being understood for

who they were;

why they were different;

what their actual diagnosis was;

what their actual capacity for love was;

what their interests were;

what their intellectual capacity was;

what gave them joy;

what brought them sadness;

all that made them who they are;

For all autistic souls who have gone before us:

May they rest in Eternal love, acceptance and peace,

and may their memory inspire us

to love more, understand better,

and cultivate patience

with ourselves, and with one another.

In the Holy Name of Jesus, we pray,

Amen.