Mother Teresa inspires the theme of this weeks’ YouTube church service: compassion. As always, this 48-minute nondenominational worship service is suitable for elders with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

A quick note to activity directors and caregivers who may be using these videos: Please resist the temptation to start the video and leave people alone to watch it! The homily is always designed to be interactive: I include instructions and places to pause the video and have a group or one-on-one discussion. This is important because it fosters community and connection, critical components of traditional church services that online versions simply can’t provide. I promise you’ll enjoy the time as well!

Mother Teresa’s Example

This week, August 26, marks the 110th birthday of Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Catholic saint (as of 2016) who founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. Her calling was to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor” while living among them in Kolkata, India.

What I love about Mother Teresa is that she was simply following a call from God. She herself insisted that she was nothing special; she was just one person. But through her faithful, sacrificial obedience to God, she changed the world, one person at a time.

We, too, including elders with dementia, can compassionately love others. As Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can all do small things with great love.”

Enjoy this week’s church service video, and as always, please send any feedback, suggestions, or questions.

Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash