Sister Barbara Bartlett is a sister with the Society of the Holy Child of Jesus living in Washington D.C. Sister Barbara is involved in several ministries in the Archdiocese of Washington including assisting with campus ministry at Howard University and ministering at the McKenna Center for Homeless Men. Since 2007, Sister Barbara has been an integral part of the Bethlehem House and Faith and Light communities. Both these communities support the spiritual needs of adults living with developmental disabilities. Sister Barbara has taught baking classes in the past which can only end well! She works in many capacities including driving people to gatherings, making meals, and preparing for weekly Masses when held in person. Since March of this year, Sister Barbara quickly adapted to the needs of the community and lead prayers on weekly Zoom calls. Sister Barbara is willing to use props, stories, or whatever it takes to help bring the adults and families supported by Bethlehem House closer to Jesus and understanding His love for all. We are grateful for all the work and ministries of Sister Barbara the recipient of this year’s Rocky Stone Award. Although traditionally the award has been given to a lay person or people, we do recognize the gifts our religious sisters bring to our local Church. In deep gratitude Sister Barbara for all you do!

Fr. Fuller is the Executive Director of the Secretariat of Doctrine and Canonical Affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. For two years, Fr. Fuller has also joined us as a Sunday Celebrant at St. Francis Deaf Catholic Church. Without Fr. Fuller’s kind willingness, we would not have been able to stay together as a Deaf Catholic Community. Fr. Fuller has also been happy to share his Sunday homilies with us, so we can pass them on to our Deaf-Blind parishioners, who for the last 7 months have felt so very isolated due to the Pandemic. Fr. Fuller has built the bridge to keep us all connected as a Community! One additional fact about Fr. Fuller’s homilies- they are AMAZING! St. Francis Deaf Catholic Church has been blessed by not only marvelous homilies, but by the gentle humor and warm friendship Fr. Fuller has shared with our Catholic Deaf Community for the past two years. Fr. Fuller is a priest of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, who is currently working here in Washington at the USCCB. We have been blessed by his presence and ministry. THANK YOU FR. Fuller for all you have done for St. Francis Deaf Catholic Community!