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Painting owned by   Pastoral Care Project Pastoral Care Project © Charity No. 1094766.  All rights reserved. There is more on this painting by Sr Annie Bromhan IBVM along with reflections on the Pastoral Care Project website  here . This is an edited version of  a post  published on 13 March 2013. May I ask anyone who reads this to check out the website of  Pastoral Care Project . This wonderful ecumenical ministry, initiated by Mrs Frances Molloy in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, focuses on the spiritual needs of persons with dementia. This is the tenth annual Dementia Prayer Week initiated by Pastoral Care Project. Long ago I used to be a young man and dear Margaret remembers that for me. The Dutchman   is a song written by Michael Peter Smith in 1968. It's about an elderly couple living in Amsterdam, Margaret and the title character. The unnamed Dutchman has dementia and Margaret cares for him with a sad...

Long ago I used to be a young man and dear Margaret remembers that for me. The Dutchman  is a song written by Michael Peter Smith in 1968. It's about an elderly couple living in Amsterdam, Margaret and the title character. The unnamed Dutchman has dementia and Margaret cares for him with a sadness over what has happened to him over the years. It's a story of unconditional love. Portrait of an Old Man with Beard ,  van Gogh, December 1885 ( Web Gallery of Art ) I became involved with  The Pastoral Care Project  in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, while based in the Columban house in Solihull from September 2000 to April 2002 when I moved to Glasgow, Scotland, though I stayed there for only a few months before returning to the Philippines. The mission statement of the Project is above. I first got involved when the founder of the Project, Mrs Frances Molloy, invited me to celebrate Mass in a home for old people. The mission state...

 Lord, thank you for your presence this moment, holding us in your love. Help us to share your love with those who live among us with dementia,  that we may see your beauty in them. Amen . Pastoral Care Project , located in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, whose mission is To raise awareness to the spiritual needs of the frail elderly - enabling carers to support them in their journey to the fullness of life has once again organised a Day of Prayer for Dementia . Indeed, somewhat like World Youth Day, it was much more than a day of prayer but more than a week of prayer with special Masses and Prayer Events/Services being held in a number of English dioceses starting on 11 March and ending yesterday, the Solemnity of St Joseph. Frances Molloy, the Project Manager and founder, originally from Rathlin Island, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, describes how Pastoral Care Promect came about: In 1989, I was leading a Spiritual Development programme (Light Out of Darkness wr...

 The link to the video was sent by my friend Frances Molloy (photo below), founder of the Pastoral Care Project in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England. I was involved with the Project to a limited degree while based in Solihull, near Birmingham, from 2000 to 2002.   Here is a brief history of the Project from its website: In 1989, I was leading a Spiritual Development programme (Light Out of Darkness written by Sr Kathleen O’Sullivan SSL) and the theme of that particular week was ‘finding God in my weakness’, Romans 8.26-27. I met a lady with dementia in an EMI (Elderly and Mentally Infirm) Ward at the George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton, while visiting as a church volunteer. She was also blind and yet seemed to have an awareness which captured my attention. She couldn't remember her name – and yet she had this great awareness of God and others. Reflecting on the scripture and the visit, I became aware of how special and unique each person is. The visit highlighted th...