Vol XVI. No. 43
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019 http://colleagueslist.blogspot/.ca
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net
This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally at - waholst@telus.net
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Dear Friends:
My Special Item this week is a new book on dementia in our communities and what we can do about it. The book is provided by author and colleague Michael Swan and Novalis Catholic Publishing of Toronto. Michael and I go back a long time and I am happy to introduce his latest book to you.
I hope you will find other good things here as well.
Wayne
PLEASE NOTE - If a link below, seems to be dead, cut and paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page and it should work.
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SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice -
HERE WITH US
A Parish Guide to
Serving People with Dementia
by Michael Swan
Novalis Publishing, Toronto
96 pp. Paper. May, 2021. $13.95 CAD
ISBN # 978-2-89688-9-770-5
Publisher's Promo:
Some of the most forgotten members of society are those who struggle to remember, speak, and understand. And yet people with dementia and their caregivers make up a substantial segment of many parishes around the world. How are parish communities called, as Christ’s disciples, to help them? Here, Michael Swan looks past cultural assumptions and provides the latest information about this life-limiting illness to help parishes respond with effective programs and care.
A lot of useful information is contained here, for yourself and your congregation.
--
Author's Words:
The statistics speak for themselves. Every year, another 76,000 Canadians are diagnosed with some form of dementia. In 2020, there were over half a million Canadians with dementia. By 2030 there will be close to one million. More than 7 percent of Canadians will at some point live with dementia. In the year 2036, 3 percent of all Canadians alive will have some form of dementia, to some degree...
We live longer, but we don't necessarily live better. One quarter of Canadians will be older than 65 by 2036. Over 50,000 Canadians with dementia right now are living in hospitals. This is not ideal.
In 2020, two-thirds of nursing home residents had a diagnosis of dementia and nursing home staff are ill-equipped to care for them.
(few, if any Catholic seminary facilities in North America offer dementia seminars for religious in training. We tend to focus on the young, not the elderly, and people seem uncomfortable in the presence of those with dementia.)
We need to learn how to behave when we are among dementia patients.
It's important to seek out those with dementia and talk to them, because they find it harder to initiate conversations than they once did...
We in local parishes must not sit this out. "It comes down to that whole essence of the mission of the church." We tend to forget the mental health part of our healing ministries. Is healing really someone else's business if we seek to be followers of Christ the healer?...
There is a difference between healing and curing. Curing is just about the mechanics and biochemistry of our bodies. Healing brings our very selves into alignment with creation around us and our creator. For a Christian, healing does not so much bind our wounds as bind us closer to God, making us whole. That is what Jesus did and still does...
Some churches and denominations have begun co-operating with the Alzheimer Society of Canada. A lot more needs to happen in this regard...
If you or your congregation feels it needs help, you're right. The task is immense. The good news is that there is help out there. It is hoped that this book will help your local community figure out what it needs and where it might find that help.
- copied and interpreted from the first chapter "Confronting Reality"
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Author's Bio:
Michael Swan is associate editor of The Catholic Register, English-speaking Canada's national Catholic newspaper. He is also the author of Written on My Heart: Classic Prayers in the Modern World (Novalis, 2019) and Out of the Cold: A History of Caring (Catholic Register Books, 2015).
--
My Thoughts:
I'm sure that, for most of us reading this, dementia exists among us. This book is a handy resource for Christians and non-Christians alike.
Here are some additional suggestions offered:
This book provides an overview of what science tells us about dementia. It gives us simple, hands-on ideas and strategies for acknowledging and welcoming people who live with dementia, and an understanding of the key role that volunteers play in caring for people with dementia.
This volume can help you get your building dementia-ready and suggests ways your congregation can reach out to the wider community for support.
A key point that underlies everything contained here is that people with dementia are human beings. The rest of us - who may not yet be dementia-victims - need to treat victims as we would like to be treated.
Thanks to Michael Swan and Novalis Canadian Catholic publishers for offering this book for consideration.
--
Buy the book from Novalis, Toronto
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COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Jim Taylor
Okanagan, BC
Personal Web Log
May 30th, 2021
"When Worldwide Becomes Personal"
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
June 7th, 2021
"More Than a House or a Place"
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NET NOTES
POPE FRANCIS TO MEET THIS YEAR WITH
CANADIAN INDIGENOUS DELEGATION
Meeting in Planning Stage for Some Time
but Developments have Made it Urgent
Catholic Register, Toronto
June 11th, 2021
--
NEWS I WOULD RATHER NOT KNOW
I Don't Want to Hear It, But I Must
Christian Week,
May 31st, 2021
--
UCC CONDEMNS ATTACK
ON MUSLIM FAMILY
"Horrific and Hate-filled"
in London, ON.
United Church of Canada
June 9th, 2021
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LOSS AND CONTINUATION
Lessons from the Maya
about End-of-Life Matters
Sightings,
June 10th, 2021
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VATICAN GETS MIXED REVIEWS FOR
FIGHTING FINANCIAL CORRUPTION
Much More Must Be Done
Religion News Service,
June 9th, 2021
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CATHOLIC ARE ASKING FOR BREAD
AS MANY BISHOPS OFFER STONES
Offering Communion to Politicians Debate
Religion News Service,
June 10th, 2021
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KENYAN WOMAN MARRIED THE
HOLY SPIRIT IN ANGLICAN CEREMONY
But the Church Does Not Approve
Religion News Service,
June 4th, 2021
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MORE THAN HALF OF ASIANS IN CANADA
HAVE EXPERIENCED DISCRIMINATION
DURING THE PAST YEAR
Most Targeted are the Young and Poor
CBC.ca
June 8th, 2021
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WISDOM OF THE WEEK
From Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:
Shape our spirits by Christ's transforming power, that as one people we may live out your compassion and justice, whole and sound in the realm of your peace.
- Revised Common Lectionary
--
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.
- Thomas Merton
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For it is evident that God will in truth be all in all when there shall be no evil in existence, when every created being is at harmony with itself and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; when every creature shall have been made one body.
- St. Gregory of Nyssa
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CLOSING THOUGHT - Mother Teresa
Do not look for Jesus away from yourselves. He is not out there; he is in you. Keep your lamp burning, and you will recognize him.
(end)
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