Pentecost: "we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God."

5/20/18, Pentecost Sunday
(audio of readings) (signed homily)

Mass Schedules (in non-English languages, Archdiocese of Philadelphia)

Mass in a Foreign Language (Diocese of Trenton)

How Many People Have Hearing Losses and Use American Sign Language?

Estimating the numbers of people with hearing loss is challenging!  And how a hearing loss impacts a particular person depends on the type/severity of the loss, what sort of amplification is possible, the age at onset, and educational/rehabilitation strategies, among other factors.  It is even more difficult to estimate the number of people who rely on American Sign Language (ASL).    

• "American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf" (American Sign Language, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 4/25/17 update)

• Among individual with all types and severities of hearing loss, Jerome Schein and Marcus Delk (National Census of the Deaf Population, 1974) defined "Deaf" people as those whose hearing loss was so severe that they could not hear/understand speech. Schein and Delk found 0.2% of the general population to be "prevocationally deaf" (i.e., to have become deaf prior to 19 years of age).  They also found 90% to have hearing parents and 90% to have hearing children.  Many have assumed that prevocationally deaf people comprise the majority of ASL users. 
  
  "The Schein and Delk (1974) NCDP report remains the ultimate source for data-based estimates of how many people use ASL in the United States....According to Schein and Delk (1974), the total prevocationally deaf population – civilian, noninstitutionalized persons of all ages – was estimated to be 410,522 persons in 1971....Schein and Delk (1974) provided evidence that there may have been as many as 500,000 people, regardless of hearing status, who signed at home in 1972" (How Many People Use ASL in the United States?  Why Estimates Need Updating, 2/21/05).
  

How Do We Meet the Needs of People with Hearing Losses Who Rely on ASL?

As per canonist Dr. Edward Peters (the father of a congenitally deaf daughter)  to prospective members of the clergy:

"* ASL is the first language of over 500,000 Deaf Americans; some two to three million more persons use ASL regularly, making ASL the most common foreign language in America after Spanish.
* Fewer than 5% of Deaf Americans regularly attend a church (let alone a Catholic church) primarily because language barriers inhibit evangelization, catechesis, and liturgical participation.
* Recent advances in ASL linguistics and modern communications technologies make learning ASL easier than ever; Deaf ministry programs are now available to train hearing persons with competence in ASL for effective collaboration with the Deaf.
* College level ASL classes are offered throughout the United States and much of Canada. ASL is recognized as a foreign language by well over 200 American colleges and universities, and opportunities for face-to-face and on-line tutorial assistance are plentiful.
I hope more hearing students will give ASL some consideration when it’s time to decide on their 'pastoral language.'  The need is great; the rewards are amazing!" (10/3/08)

Ten years later, there appear to be extremely  few clerics across the country who are fluent in ASL; few Sunday Masses can be celebrated in ASL.  Sunday Masses can also be conveyed via sign language interpreters.  

Archdiocese of Philadelphia (as of Jan 2018)

Masses Celebrated in ASL

• 1st and 3rd Sundays - 11:15 AM St. Matthew Lower Church, Philadelphia, PA (Except June 3/ July and August) Confession is available at 10:45 AM
• 2nd Sundays - 10:15 AM St. Anastasia Chapel, Newtown Square, PA
• 4th Sundays –11:45AM St. Stanislaus Church, Lansdale, PA

Interpreted Masses

• Every Sunday - 9:30 AM St. Pius X, Broomall, PA
• 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays - 11 AM St. Matthew Upper Church, Philadelphia, PA
  (Interpreted Mass June 3 and every Sunday in July/August)
• 2nd and 4th Sundays - 9:30 AM St. Francis Assisi, Norristown, PA
• 1st and 3rd Sundays - 10:00 AM St. Joseph Church, Warrington, PA
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th Sundays – 9:00 AM St. Stanislaus Church, Lansdale, PA
• 2nd and 4th Sundays- 11:00 AM Epiphany of Our Lord Church, South Phila., PA
• 2nd and 4th Sundays - 9:00 AM St. Thomas of Villanova, Rosemont, PA
• 2nd Sundays - 10:30 AM Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Doylestown, PA
• 1st, 2nd and 3rd Sundays – 11:30 AM St. Ann Chapel, Phoenixville, PA
• 1st and 3rd Sundays – 11:30 AM St. John Chrysostom, Wallingford, PA
• 4th Sundays - 11:30 AM St. Denis, Havertown, PA

Diocese of Trenton  (as of Jan 2018)

Interpreted Masses

• Brick Town, Church of the Epiphany
  Every Sunday 10:00 am
• Hamilton, St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish 
  Every Sunday 9:30 am
• Hamilton Square, St. Gregory the Great Parish
  4th Sunday 10:30am
• Jackson, St. Aloysius Parish
  by request only 
• Lakehurst, St. John Parish 
  Every Saturday 4:00 pm
• Neptune, Holy Innocents Parish
  3rd Saturday 5:00 pm
• Seaside Park, St. Catharine of Siena
  Every Sunday 9:30 am

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has a special, informative form, regarding other requests for sign language interpreting.  The gifts of our few ASL-fluent priests certainly need to be shared across dioceses for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, special missions, and retreats.

Resources for Teaching the Compendium of the Catechism to ASL users:

Much of Part One focuses on what we believe, the Apostles Creed (Click for a video of Deacon Patrick Graybill, who is deaf himself.):

 

Much of Part Two focuses on how we celebrate, the Seven Sacraments (The first video is of Father Chris Klusman.  In the second video, Father Mick Depcick, who is deaf himself, discusses the Sacrament of Reconciliation):

Much of Part Three focuses on how we live, the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes:

Much of Part Four focuses on how we pray, the Our Father (the Lord's Prayer) ( Click for a video of Father Shawn Carey, who is deaf himself.):

NOTE: Dr. Edward Peters maintains "A Bibliography of Deaf Catholic Sources and Studies."