«Each parish, every association, every ecclesial group is called to become the protagonist of the” revolution “of gratitude and care, from realizing visiting the elderly frequently, creating for them and with their support and prayer networks, interpreting relationships that can give hope and dignity to those who feel forgotten. Christian hope always pushes us to dare more, to think big, not to satisfy us of the status quo. In this case, to work for a change that returns to the elderly esteem and affection ».
Is the invitation of Pope Leone XIV than in his message on the occasion of the fifth Day of grandparents and elderly, the next one is scheduled July 27 on the theme “Blessed who has not lost his hope”invites you to visit elderly people that our society tends to “put on the margins and forget”. The Pontiff writes that “those who cannot come to Rome this year, on pilgrimage”, will be able to «To achieve jubilee indulgence if they go to visit the elderly for a adequate time in solitude, almost making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them. Visiting an elderly person is a way to meet Jesus, that frees us from indifference and solitude “.
Leone frames this gesture in the inheritance left by Pope Francis Which, he underlines, wanted that “this day was celebrated first of all by meeting who is alone” and in the context of the Holy Year dedicated to hope which “since its biblical origins, has represented a time of liberation: the slaves were franked, the debts condoned, the lands returned to the original owners. It was a moment of restoration of the social order wanted by God, in which the inequalities and oppressions accumulated over the years were sanctioned. Jesus renews these liberation events when, in the Synagogue of Nazareth, he proclaims the happy announcement to the poor, the sight of the blind, the liberation of the prisoners and the return to freedom for the oppressed. Looking at elderly people in this jubilee perspective “, underlines the Pope,” we are also called to live with them a liberation, especially by solitude and abandonment. This year is the propitious moment to realize it: God’s loyalty to his promises teaches us that there is a bliss in old age, an authentically evangelical joy, which asks us to break down the walls of indifference, in which the elderly are often locked up. Our societies, at every latitude, are getting used to too often to let such an important and rich part of their team be kept on the margins and forgotten ».
The Pope recalls that the third age is not meaningless but, on the contrary, it is a sign of hope that has its foundation in sacred writing: “In the Bible, God repeatedly shows his providence by addressing people ahead over the years,” writes Leone, “so it happens, as well as for Abraham, Sara, Zaccaria and Elisabetta, also for Mosescalled to free his people when he was eighty years old. With these choices, he teaches us that in his eyes old age is a time of blessing and grace and that the elderly, for him, are the first witnesses of hope. “What is this time of old age?” Asks Sant’Agostino in this regard – God replies here: ‘Oh, come for your strength, so that my strength remains in you and you can say with the apostle: when I am weak, then I am strong’ “. The fact that the number of those who are ahead over the years is increasing today then becomes a sign of the times that we are called to discern, to read the story we live well “.
The life of the Church and the world, recalls the Pope, “It is understood only in the succession of generations, and embracing an elderly person helps us to understand that history does not end in the present, nor is it consumed between fast encounters and fragmentary relationships, but unfolds towards the future», Writes the Pontiff who cites the book of Genesis Where is “the moving episode of the blessing given by Jacob, now old, to his grandchildren, the children of Joseph: his words spur them on to look at the future with hope, as at the time of the promises of God. If therefore it is true that the fragility of the elderly needs the vigor of young people”, he underlines, “”It is equally true that the inexperience of young people needs the testimony of the elderly to design the future wisely. How often our grandparents have been for us example of faith and devotion, of civic virtues and social commitment, memory and perseverance in the tests! This beautiful inheritance, which have given us with hope and love, will never be enough, for us, a reason for gratitude and consistency ».
Leone concludes his message, dated June 26, remembering that «iThe good we want to our loved ones – to the spouse with whom we spent most of life, to the children, to the grandchildren who rejoice our days – do not go out when the forces vanish. Indeed, it is often their affection that awakens our energies, bringing hope and comfort us. These signs of vitality of love, which have their root in God himself, give us courage and remind us that “if our external man is getting defeated, the inner one instead is renewed day by day”. Above all from the elderly, therefore, we persevered confidently in the Lord “, is the Pope’s invitation,” let us renew every day by the encounter with him, prayer and Holy Mass. We transmit with love the faith we have lived for many years, in the family and in daily meetings: We always praise God for his benevolence, we cultivate unity with our loved ones, we widen our heart to those who are farther and, in particular, to those who live in need. We will be signs of hope, at every age ».
