06/02/2026
Congratulations to Catholic Mom contributing writer Janele Hoerner on the publication of her picture book, "Jesus Said, 'Be Not Afraid.'" Raising a special needs child is extremely challenging. To a parent, that life is a gift of sacrificial and loving service to one's child. It is a choice to live differently than most other families, and a continual renewal of loving support of the Catholic mindset of loving service to others. Yet, to a sibling of a child with autism, or other similar conditions, that sacrifice can at times seem like an endless amount of things that are taken from the sibling of a child with increased needs. Parental time seems stolen away, and these feelings can breed lifelong insecurities in a child who is left to pick up the pieces of the love that seems left over from their exhausted parents.
This is not only a story about having a sibling with a special need, but what that condition teaches us, by being exposed to it; growth in understanding of what it means to live sacrificially by transforming our lives in loving service of others.
This book is available now on https://hubs.la/Q04jJKL60: https://hubs.la/Q04jJ_Mz0
