Yesterday the Catholic world was
rocked with the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI plans to resign at the end
of the month. I watched facebook as my
Catholic friends all started posting.
Inevitably, jokes surfaced in a matter of hours. My family all had reactions as well as myself
at the news which surprised me.
Growing up protestant, the whole
pope idea did not really register with me.
In truth, I still haven’t given it much thought. Here sits an old guy across the ocean leading
a bunch of Catholics. Nice ideals, but
how does it affect me? The fact of the
matter is I don’t understand much about the office of pope. I know the first pope was Peter. Jesus told him to be the rock of the
church. This is what the pope is. He is our rock, our shepherd. I have learned I will defend him and respect
him. Beyond that, I don’t give him or
the office much thought until yesterday.
As I said, everyone living in my
house was saddened by Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. In fact, later my son said he thought about
it all day. I thought of it a lot as
well. I am saddened because of something
I hadn’t put into words until yesterday, the sanctity of life. The Catholic Church’s platform in all areas
stands fast to the sanctity of all life whether the talk is about abortion,
execution, the poor, and a number of other areas. As I get older, I watch for the sanctity in
the elderly.
As the world watched Pope John
Paul II (JPII) grow weaker in his old age, I marveled at his gifts. He still held a viable life. People respected him, followed his lead, and
learned from him. In our society, we are
inundated with commercials and social ideals that being young is the better
life. We need to get rid of our
wrinkles, gray hair, and age spots. (I
confess I do color my hair, but I am keeping the wrinkles. I earned them.) The Catholic Church didn’t put JPII out to
pasture as he became infirm; instead, the younger generation helped facilitate
his work. They learned from his
wisdom. We are going to miss those
lessons from Pope Benedict XVI. I am
saddened by that. Yes, I know he will
continue to work for all of us and he will pray, but he will be lost to the
public eye. We will not see the sanctity
of his life as he grows infirm.
At the church I attend, an old
priest assists Father during the Eucharist.
I think this is beautiful. A
couple of years back, a series of commercials made my heart sing. They were about grandchildren going to their
grandparent’s music performance or some such idea. I love that.
The elderly need to have a viable job in their lives. I plan to be doing something even if it is
plotting to take over the care center when I am old. In fact this morning my cousin asked me if we
will ever stop fighting. I hope
not. Let me explain.
Five years ago when I started
becoming very sick, I started to worry.
My health did a huge nosedive.
Three years ago as I waited for the military to decide if I no longer
was viable in the work place I became scared.
I was looking down the barrel of not being able to work anymore. What could I give back to society? What would be my usefulness? Granted, I knew I had the tasks of raising my
kids and cleaning house, but I have always wanted more. Our society doesn’t place much value in these
gifts and I was feeling pretty pathetic.
My cousin who is my age also has struggle with her health. I can imagine this is how the elderly begin
to feel. I have learned a lot in the
last three years of my retirement. I do
a lot with my writing and praying.
Fortunately for me, I have a son who reminds me how much he values our
cleaner (note not super clean) house and having me home for him. I do get frustrated though when finances take
a nose dive and my husband insists I can’t get a job. But I do have value as do the elderly. I will fight for this as does my cousin and
if I know us well, we will continue to fight.
Pope Benedict XVI will also
continue to have value as he continues his journey. I pray we get to keep tabs on it and he shows
the world the amazing aspects of growing old.
Blessings to you all.
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