September 18th 2022: Dementia in the Web of Life

This week we are continuing our theme of Dementia in the Web of Life. We started a couple of weeks ago by centring the humanity of the person suffering from dementia. We did that to centre the person who is suffering the most. And we remembered their humanity. We reminded ourselves that even though our loved one with dementia has changed, even though they are ill, they are still human beings. We will broaden our focus to the community and society. We see the suffering and it is too much for the afflicted and their caregiver. So we respond with compassion. Remember, the Passion comes from the Latin Passio, meaning to suffer. Compassion, therefore, means to co-suffer or “suffer with”. And the web of life responds to the suffering by offering compassion. 

1st Reading: Sympathy by Emma Lazarus: Emma Lazarus is best known for her poem on the Statue of Liberty but in today's reading, called Sympathy, she offers the power of connection in the face of despair. When a friend is suffering, any words one might offer are less important and less effective than just being there. Your presence is more powerful than the words you might offer.

2nd Reading: The Eclipse of the Public by David Hollenbach : David Hollenbach is a Jesuit priest, professor, author, and moral theologian, in today's reading The Eclipses of the Public, he speaks about Aristotle on the good life. More specifically on the good life of a single person and the quality of the common life persons share with one another in society are linked.