It began with a challenge.Jim Caviezel, the actor known for playing Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ,” had been outspoken about his Catholic Christian beliefs. Wondering if he was as committed to his values as his words indicated, a friend said to him, “(Not) unless you adopt a child – and not any child but a disabled child. – will I believe in you.”
Caviezel’s response - “Okay, so when I do, will you become pro-life?”
The friend indicated he would.
That conversation led Caviezel and his wife Kerri on a journey to China where they met a five-year-old boy named Bo living in an orphanage. During an interview on the radio program “Christopher Closeup,” Caviezel recalled that Bo was abandoned on a train as a baby and grew up in the orphanage. At the facility, children were told “that they had no mommy, that they were born out of the dirt.”
Bo had a more significant challenge besides his living circumstances. He had a brain tumor that threatened his life. Caviezel and his wife adopted Bo and supported him through his brain surgery when they didn’t know if he would live or die. Bo remains a beloved member of the Caviezel’s family today.
So what happened with the friend who said that if Jim adopted a sick child, he would become pro-life?
Caviezel says, “He didn’t make good on his word. But it didn’t matter to me because the joy that we had from (Bo) – he’s like our own.”
In fact, Jim and Kerri went on to adopt another orphan – this one a five-year-old girl also with a brain tumor. The couple originally planned to adopt a healthy newborn girl, but when they met the sick child they realized that the healthy baby would find a good home; the sick one wouldn’t. She was then welcomed into their family as well.
Jim confirms that he and Kerri have no regrets about adopting two kids whose health was in question – “We took the harder road...That is what faith is to me; it’s action. It’s the Samaritan. It’s not the one who says he is; it’s the one who does – and does without bringing attention to himself. I’m saying this because I want to encourage other people. Yes, you do feel fear, you do feel scared but you have no idea the blessings that you have coming to you if you just take a chance on faith.”
(To download the free podcast of Jim Caviezel's interview on "Christopher Closeup" during which he also discusses the challenge of being a Christian in the modern world and his latest project - The Word of Promise New Testament Audio Bible - visit www.christophers.org/closeuppodcast.
TonyRossiBlogger@gmail.com
8 comments:
Wow! That's something that's hard to do. I admire Jim CAviezel. If only more well off people would share their good fortune and love to the less fortunate, as what the the Caviezels did, there would be less loneliness, povery and other evil things in this world. Surely, it is in man's control to change this world to a better place to live in, if only there is love. - carol dc
May the Good Lord bless this man and his growing family. My family will be praying for this man and his family as well. Makes you wish Mr. Gibson would come home to the true Catholic Church of Jesus and then we can read similar storys about him and less about seeing him in bars with young women. We will also pray for Mel as he has the ability to do alot of good for Gods people as well if he chooses.
may God bless their lives always
Proving once again that pro-aborts are fundamentally dishonest.
I'd have to disagree with that last statement. I don't think they're any more dishonest than everyone else. There are some religious people who don't live up to their word or standards either. That being said, change doesn't happen overnight. Maybe Jim Caviezel's actions have planted seeds in his friend's life that will bear fruit somtime down the road.
Tony
That's very charitable of you, and let he who is without sin cast the first stone, but Paul has a point.
Tom Faranda
What a great profile. Am reminded of Chris and Joan Andrews Bell and their family, too. How wonderful that together a couple can respond to God's grace and welcome a child or children with physical challenges into their home and life. Thanks for redefining "perfection" in a world obsessed with a false sense of it.
Thank you for sharing this story, Tony. I've held Jim and Kerri Caviezel in high regard for some time. I listened to Kerri speak at a Medjugorje Peace Conference in California while Jim was filming The Passion of the Christ in Italy.
Even before reading this story I've observed them to live their lives with the highest integrity.
Having raised a disabled chld myself for 32 years ~ I am well aware of the challenges they have faced and also the wonderful blessings that come from these relationships with children.
One must trust in God and go forward, without fear, listening to what the Holy Spirit would have us do.
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