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February 6, 2005
Thinking of the Elderly
In his Message for Lent 2005, Pope John Paul II has asked us to reflect on our attitudes toward and our attention to the older members of our Church and society: “It is upon this theme that I would like to ask you to reflect during this Lent, in order to deepen the awareness of the role that the elderly are called to play in society and in the Church, and thus to prepare your hearts for the loving welcome that should always be reserved for them.”
My first question is: At what age is one considered elderly? I certainly wouldn’t want to offend anyone by considering them elderly, if they do not yet consider themselves to be elderly.
I encounter many older people in my everyday life. My parents are just getting into their early seventies. My aunt (Dad’s sister) is in a nursing home, and is suffering from Parkinson’s just like our Holy Father. The oldest member of our covenant community just turned 99, and we have other members in their 70’s and 80’s. The town and county in which I live, which is in the heart of a region that raged with anthracite coal mining in the first half of the last century, has a large population of older people.
The elderly that I encounter on a daily basis – in pharmacies, in grocery stores, on the roads, even in the church parking lot – do not generally leave me with a positive impression about their age group. They can be extremely selfish, stiff-neckedly stubborn, joyless (and smileless), negative and complaining, and lovers of gossip. Not only do they watch entirely too much television, but they seem attracted to the worst programs. Certainly there are exceptions, and these generalizations can easily be applied to my own generation, and even many of today’s youth. Observing these attributes in action causes me to feel so sorry for these older people. They’ve been blessed with longevity, but are missing out on so much of what life has to offer.
So I anticipate having many opportunities to apply the Pope’s theme to my life this Lent. Hopefully, I can be more patient, kind and merciful to the elderly with whom I interact. I’ll try to visit my aunt more often, and encourage my kids to do so, too, as she really enjoys seeing them.
For some of our Church’s teaching on the elderly, check out this document from the Pontifical Council for the Laity from 1998, and Pope John Paul’s “Letter to the Elderly” from 1999.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 5:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 4, 2005
Why Some Marriages Fail
Catholic Light blogger and Canon Lawyer Pete Vere has a revealing article in the current issue of Lay Witness magazine.
Posted by Walter Babetski at 3:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack