Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: A Request for Prayers … and Awareness

Dear Bishop, On December 27, 2021, my 6-year-old son, Dominic, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma (brain cancer). From that moment, my family endured a very long and difficult road. Thankfully, Dominic is cancer-free today; however, the physical and emotional side effects are something we all face every day. My family has become part of the childhood cancer world and has learned how brutal this disease is for so many …

— Note From a Mom

BISHOP
KEVIN J.
SWEENEY

In late August, I received a note, quoted above, from a mother, asking me to help in any way I could to request prayers and let people know that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Included with the note, in addition to the brief description of Dominic’s being diagnosed and the family’s journey over the past three years, was a request for prayers and to help raise awareness. As encouraging as it was to read the words, “Dominic is cancer-free,” I could hear, feel, and only imagine what the journey must have been like for that family. I did not recognize the Mom’s name (Lynn), but I felt like I should respond to her request. A few days later and after a couple of emails, I was able to speak with Lynn on the phone and was very pleasantly surprised to learn that I had previously met her, Dominic, and their family. Not only had I met them, but I had the privilege of washing Dominic’s feet on this past Holy Thursday at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in our Cathedral in Paterson, where the family is parishioners.

Lynn has known Msgr. Geno Sylva, the rector of our Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, since she was a student and Msgr. Geno was president of DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne. I also recalled an earlier meeting, when Lynn, her husband, and their four children were visiting Msgr. Geno at the Cathedral and I just happened to arrive as the family was leaving. That was the first time I learned about the very courageous Dominic and his and the family’s battle against a terrible disease.

When Lynn and I spoke on the phone, I began to understand what she meant when she wrote the words, “My family has become part of the childhood cancer world…” In our conversation, I was very surprised to hear Lynn say that (in some circumstances) “childhood cancer is treated today the same way it was 30 or 40 years ago.” Lynn also told me that the amount of funding that goes towards research for the treatment of childhood cancer is relatively very low compared to the research funding for the treatment of other forms of cancer (in adults).

A few years ago, I became aware that September is also “National Recovery Month” See: https://www.naadac.org/national-recovery-month Since 1989, National Recovery Month has raised awareness and offers resources to those who are struggling with substance abuse and addictions to alcohol and drugs. I wrote a column about National Recovery Month in September of 2021 (See link below). The Beacon has frequently covered the work of Straight and Narrow, part of our Catholic Charities Organization and a leader in addiction and recovery treatment, on a local, state, and national level, since its founding in 1954. Father Ed Reading, a priest of our diocese for more than 50 years, who has spent his whole priesthood ministering in the field of alcohol addiction, substance abuse, and recovery, has also written articles in The Beacon during Recovery Month. In August the National Catholic Reporter published an excellent article on Father Reading’s life and ministry. It can be found at Addiction recovery has been a full-time ministry for this diocesan priest | National Catholic Reporter (ncronline.org)

In the spirit of, “you can learn something new every day:” as we were sending a note to our parishes to ask for special prayers during September for those impacted by childhood cancer and those in recovery, struggling with substance abuse and addiction, my assistant, Gladys Pozza, let me know that September is also “Sepsis Awareness Month” — see: https://www.sepsis.org/get-involved/sepsis-awareness-month/

So, in addition to everything else that makes September such a busy month, we now may be aware that we have more special intentions to remember in our prayers. Returning to Lynn’s note and our phone conversation, her primary request was for prayers. Lynn shared with me how important their faith and the prayerful support that they received have been to her and her family as they have been on this journey. Lynn also shared that she has gotten to know other families (two in her hometown) who have children who have been diagnosed with cancer and how much she would like to do whatever she can so that other families can receive the prayerful and loving support that she and her family have received. The timing of our phone call was providential, I believe, because we spoke just a week before Lynn and her family would be attending a Mass (on Saturday, Sept. 7) at the Cathedral when special prayers would be offered for children and families dealing with childhood cancer. 

“Prayers and awareness” — I would agree with Lynn that both are very important. If you are like me and may be asking yourself why you were not previously aware that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, part of the reason for that “lack of awareness” may be that September has only officially been Childhood Cancer Awareness Month since 2019. As with most things these days, there is a great deal of information online. One website that I found helpful was: https://www.cancer.gov/pediatric-adult-rare-tumor/news/upcoming-events/childhoodcancerawarenessmonth

At that site, in addition to a great deal of information, you can learn that: “The idea of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month was first introduced in 1990 in a presidential proclamation by then-President George H.W. Bush. On Sept. 26, 2019, September was officially recognized as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.”

Most of us are very aware that there are “many good causes” and groups who are doing great work to help our sisters and brothers who are most in need. Most of those groups require financial support and are asking for donations. When we seriously consider those requests and, for many or most of us, our limited resources, we can feel overwhelmed and/or sad that there is “only so much we can do” and only so much we can give, at least financially. This is where we can see how “prayer and awareness” are related. One thing we can always do is to pray — and pray with confidence that God hears and answers our prayers. We can also turn to prayer to ask the Lord to guide us as to “what else” (or how much) we can do, whether through financial support, volunteering, research and education, or in simpler, “ordinary” acts of kindness and generosity. As I bring Lynn’s request to my own prayer and reflection, in addition to asking for that guidance, I am also offering a prayer of gratitude, that Lynn took the time to write and send me that note. As I read Lynn’s note and share her request with you, I believe that going forward, we, with the help and support of many others, can continue to raise awareness and ask for prayers. When we do that, I believe, that’s when miracles can happen.