O GIVE SPACE TO THE ELDERLY IS TO GIVE SPACE TO LIFE
Vatican City, 12 November 2012 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father visited the Sant Egidio Community’s “Viva gli Anziani” rest home for the elderly in Rome. In a brief address to the residents he said that he came among them “as Bishop of Rome, but also as an elderly person visiting his peers. I well know the difficulties and limitations of age, and am aware that for many people these difficulties are aggravated by the economic crisis”.
“At times”, he continued, “at a certain age, one turns to the past with regret for the loss of youth, its energy and plans for the future. At times our perspective is veiled with sadness, as we consider this phase as the twilight of life. This morning, ideally addressing all the elderly and aware of the difficulties that our age brings, I would like to say to you with profound conviction: it is good to be elderly! At every age it is necessary to know how to discover the presence and the blessing of the Lord, and the richness that this brings. We must not allow ourselves to be imprisoned by sadness! We have received the gift of long life. To live is beautiful, even at our age and despite infirmities or limitations. Let our faces always reflect the joy of being loved by God, and never sadness”.
Pope Benedict XVI on the Elderly