National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month is dedicated to promoting opportunities and support for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, empowering them to reach their full potential and lead fulfilling lives. This includes helping them become active members of the workforce, encouraging self-advocacy, and providing necessary support services. The month also aims to raise awareness about the challenges and barriers faced by these individuals in our communities. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed March as National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, recognizing the progress made:
“New opportunities have been created through the efforts of those with developmental disabilities and their families, along with professionals and officials at all levels of government. Working together, they have brought about significant changes in the public perception of young people and adults with developmental disabilities, opening new doors to independent and productive lives.” – President Reagan
Jesus was disabled, too
On His final day, He was savagely beaten, His body so disfigured He was unrecognizable, His strength drained to the point that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry His cross. Simon shared in the burden of Jesus, just as Jesus was preparing to bear the full weight of humanity’s sins.
It’s no wonder Jesus had such deep compassion for the hurting. It’s no surprise He saw, reached out to, and loved those the world overlooked or shunned. He showed no fear in touching the unclean, the diseased, the outcasts. Isaiah described Him as one who carried our griefs and was well-acquainted with suffering.
To take on human flesh, with all its frailty—could anything be more limiting for the Eternal God? Perhaps this was part of what He meant in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats:
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; I needed clothes, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you looked after Me; I was in prison, and you came to visit Me.’
Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40)
Jesus then warns those on His left that by neglecting the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the imprisoned, they have, in effect, rejected Him. Our treatment of the vulnerable—those who are disabled, impoverished, and marginalized—matters deeply. We may try to excuse ourselves, saying we didn’t see the need, didn’t have the resources, or didn’t know how to help. But in truth, when we fail to care for the suffering, the broken, and the downtrodden, we are turning our backs on Jesus Himself—the beautiful, willingly broken God-man.
Lord, help us to truly see. May we grasp the profound meaning of the cross: the Eternal, Almighty God who chose frailty and embraced limitation, so that we—fallen and imperfect—might walk in freedom, healing, and fullness of life.
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