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Deaf priest spreads hope at 2 churches | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
To witness the Rev. Ray Fleming in action is to realize that sometimes a disability can become a strength — and that just one person can work to positively influence a community.
Deafness doesn't define Fleming. Instead, his warmth, generosity and optimism shape a worldview that serves to inspire the Roman Catholic parishioners he leads at St. Monica Church and Emmanuel Church for the Deaf.
"I am always accused of being the one who sees the glass half full," says Fleming, 59, an ordained priest since 1982 who lost his hearing at age four as a result of many childhood illnesses. "I tend not to look at the empties. There are challenges all over the place on so, so many different levels."
"Take a look at the economy, the violence in our own streets. Those are all challenges, but I think the biggest challenge is to continue to be a church, to continue, no matter what goes on around us, to be people of hope. We need to look toward the future, not giving up, not running away from it, but accepting the day-to-day challenges. I see that as the vibrancy of our community."
Kim May, business manager at Emmanuel, says Fleming has used his deafness to reach out to seemingly different communities. With his trademark Birkenstocks barely visible under his flowing frocks and often with his 3-year-old black Labrador, Jezebel, following, Fleming always greets people with a smile and an extended hand of friendship.
"I don't think for him it is a gap (between the two communities), because when a person has a disability, for them it isn't a disability," says May, who has worked with Fleming for eight years. "I don't think Father Ray's hearing impairment is a disability for him whatsoever."
Others, such as Patrick Graybill, the deacon at Emmanuel who has known Fleming since their days together in the National Theatre of the Deaf over 30 years ago, say that Fleming's outgoing nature makes him such a valuable and vital member of the Rochester faith community.
"He is delighted to be with people of all types," says Graybill, a retired professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, via e-mail. "Although he is a diocesan priest, he carries the Franciscan spirit of serving people who are in need of comfort, love, and communal and individual support. That is his passion."
Fleming points to the faith communities at St. Monica's and Emmanuel, which both celebrate Mass at the venerable church on Genesee Street, as places where people come to work through these everyday issues. The recent Procession of Our Lady of Fatima, a peaceful walk through the community designed to spread hope, is a perfect example of the positive change Fleming wishes to spread.
"We need people to be here who are simply peacemakers," Fleming says.
But it's the people who make a difference and Fleming resides at the heart of this community.
"He encourages community people to take the lead," says Patrick Sullivan, a parishioner from Emmanuel, via e-mail.
Fleming says priests from his boyhood in Butte, Mont., encouraged him to take the lead.
"I grew up in an Irish Catholic family and when I was a kid the priests were always the heroes of our community," Fleming says. "They could be pains in the neck, but they were always the heroes. Especially in times of need, they were always there, around, and helpful. They inspired me as a kid."
After growing up in Montana — a place with little or no deaf community — Fleming studied English at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., one of the leading deaf institutions in the country. He soon realized that his high school environment didn't present him with the proper classroom. Instead, he joined the National Theatre for the Deaf and worked as an actor, a skill that clearly manifests itself in his reading of the Gospel and his weekly homilies.
Fleming has served as pastor at St. Monica's for the past four years while he has spent 26 years as the leader at Emmanuel. On Sunday, he presides over the traditional 9 a.m. mass for the hearing able, normally a crowd of around 300 people, and then at 11, he says he switches "his brain" to accommodate the 100 or so parishioners who come to Emmanuel.
Through it all, he strives to connect the two communities and provide a positive example.
"I want for me what I want for everybody here at St. Monica's and Emmanuel and that is when you meet someone, are they a better person for having met you?"
To witness the Rev. Ray Fleming in action is to realize that sometimes a disability can become a strength — and that just one person can work to positively influence a community.
Deafness doesn't define Fleming. Instead, his warmth, generosity and optimism shape a worldview that serves to inspire the Roman Catholic parishioners he leads at St. Monica Church and Emmanuel Church for the Deaf.
"I am always accused of being the one who sees the glass half full," says Fleming, 59, an ordained priest since 1982 who lost his hearing at age four as a result of many childhood illnesses. "I tend not to look at the empties. There are challenges all over the place on so, so many different levels."
"Take a look at the economy, the violence in our own streets. Those are all challenges, but I think the biggest challenge is to continue to be a church, to continue, no matter what goes on around us, to be people of hope. We need to look toward the future, not giving up, not running away from it, but accepting the day-to-day challenges. I see that as the vibrancy of our community."
Kim May, business manager at Emmanuel, says Fleming has used his deafness to reach out to seemingly different communities. With his trademark Birkenstocks barely visible under his flowing frocks and often with his 3-year-old black Labrador, Jezebel, following, Fleming always greets people with a smile and an extended hand of friendship.
"I don't think for him it is a gap (between the two communities), because when a person has a disability, for them it isn't a disability," says May, who has worked with Fleming for eight years. "I don't think Father Ray's hearing impairment is a disability for him whatsoever."
Others, such as Patrick Graybill, the deacon at Emmanuel who has known Fleming since their days together in the National Theatre of the Deaf over 30 years ago, say that Fleming's outgoing nature makes him such a valuable and vital member of the Rochester faith community.
"He is delighted to be with people of all types," says Graybill, a retired professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, via e-mail. "Although he is a diocesan priest, he carries the Franciscan spirit of serving people who are in need of comfort, love, and communal and individual support. That is his passion."
Fleming points to the faith communities at St. Monica's and Emmanuel, which both celebrate Mass at the venerable church on Genesee Street, as places where people come to work through these everyday issues. The recent Procession of Our Lady of Fatima, a peaceful walk through the community designed to spread hope, is a perfect example of the positive change Fleming wishes to spread.
"We need people to be here who are simply peacemakers," Fleming says.
But it's the people who make a difference and Fleming resides at the heart of this community.
"He encourages community people to take the lead," says Patrick Sullivan, a parishioner from Emmanuel, via e-mail.
Fleming says priests from his boyhood in Butte, Mont., encouraged him to take the lead.
"I grew up in an Irish Catholic family and when I was a kid the priests were always the heroes of our community," Fleming says. "They could be pains in the neck, but they were always the heroes. Especially in times of need, they were always there, around, and helpful. They inspired me as a kid."
After growing up in Montana — a place with little or no deaf community — Fleming studied English at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., one of the leading deaf institutions in the country. He soon realized that his high school environment didn't present him with the proper classroom. Instead, he joined the National Theatre for the Deaf and worked as an actor, a skill that clearly manifests itself in his reading of the Gospel and his weekly homilies.
Fleming has served as pastor at St. Monica's for the past four years while he has spent 26 years as the leader at Emmanuel. On Sunday, he presides over the traditional 9 a.m. mass for the hearing able, normally a crowd of around 300 people, and then at 11, he says he switches "his brain" to accommodate the 100 or so parishioners who come to Emmanuel.
Through it all, he strives to connect the two communities and provide a positive example.
"I want for me what I want for everybody here at St. Monica's and Emmanuel and that is when you meet someone, are they a better person for having met you?"