“It is beautiful to be elderly!” This is the deeply personal conviction of Pope Benedict XVI, to his fellow elderly people when he visited them at the “Viva gli Aziani” Retirement home which is run by the Sant’Egidio Community at Gianicolo in Rome on Monday 12 November. The occasion coincided with the European Year of Active Ageing and of Solidarity between generations.
Why is it beautiful to be elderly? To begin with, the Holy Father is no fool. He is completely aware of “the difficulties, the problems and the limits of this age”. He also knows “that for many, these difficulties are aggravated by the economic crisis”. Having said that, the Pope is totally determined to discover in the old age God’s presence and blessings. He is conscious of the untold riches itpossesses. Addressing to the elderly not simply as Bishop of Rome but, and most importantly, “as an elderly man visiting his peers”, heexhorted them with these moving words: “We must never let ourselves be imprisoned by sadness! We received the gift of a long life. It is lovely to live also at our age, despite some ‘aches and pains’ and some limitations. On our face there must always be the joy of feeling ourselves loved by God, never sadness”.
Old age is beautiful because it is a resourceful reservoir of life’s wisdom. For that matter the elderly should be well taken care of. When society goes against its inbred individualist logic of efficiency and profit and, instead, bravely starts to lovingly minister to the elderly it receives in turn the first fruits of their inestimable treasure of life wisdom. At this point the Holy Father made the following suggestion. “I think that we should act with greater commitment, beginning with families and public institutions, so that the elderly are able to stay in their own homes.
The wisdom of life, of which they are bearers, is a great richness. The quality of a society, I would say of a civilization, is also judged by the way the elderly are treated and the place given to them in ordinary living. Those who make room for the elderly make room for life! Those who received the elderly receive life!”
Furthermore, the elderly are authentic and sound teachers of how the young people ought to face and live their lives. The Holy Father said that “the elderly are a value for society, especially for the young.
There cannot be real human growth and education without a fruitful contact with the elderly, because their very existence is like an open book in which the young generations can find precious directions for life’s journey”. Hence, frequent contact with the elderly is essential for the younger generation if they really are to grow in a healthy and responsible way.
Old age is beautiful because it offers a splendid opportunity for the elderly to deepen their relationship with the Lord through prayer. The latter makes them active protagonists in front of God’s throne for our world’s destiny. Old age can be an excellent school for the spiritual and much-needed gift of intercession. The Pope’s reminded the elderly that they “are a richness for society, also in suffering and in sickness. And this phase of life is also a gift to deepen [their] relationship with God”. Most of all he told them that “among the precious resources that you have is the essential one of prayer: become intercessors before God, praying with faith and constancy”.
Dear elderly, be a ray of God’s love by your ardent intercession for the Church, the Pope, the needs and peace of the world, the poor. Beautify your old age by prayer!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Gwann