Posted on 11/19/2013 3:35:54 AM PST by markomalley
In a era where "the elderly do not count", where they are often "discarded", "a nation that does not respect grandparents, has no future , because it has no memory", it forgets that "often they had a heroic role in the transmission of the faith in times of persecution". This is Pope Francis' lesson during Mass celebrated at Casa Santa Marta, inspired by the biblical story of the Elder Eleazar , who chose martyrdom for consistency with his faith.
The Pope noted that Eleazar, as recounted in the Book of Maccabees, "faced with the choice between apostasy and fidelity has no doubts", rejecting "pretense, pretence of mercy, of fake religiosity ... " . Indeed, instead of worrying about himself, "he thinks of the young people" of those for whom his act of courage "could leave a memorable impression".
As reported by Vatican Radio in Italian, the Pope pointed to "the consistency of this man, the consistency of his faith, but also the responsibility of leaving behind a noble legacy, true legacy. We live in a time in which the elderly do not count. It's a horrible thing to say, but they are discarded, is it not so? Why bother with them. The elderly people are the ones who carry history within them, who bring us doctrine, who bring us the faith and give it to us as a legacy. They are the ones who, like the good old wine, they have this inner strength to give us a noble inheritance".
In this regard, the Pope recalled a story he heard as a child. The protagonist is a family - "dad, mom, many children" - and a grandfather, who when he ate soup at the table "dirtied his face". Annoyed, the father buys a coffee table to isolate his parent. One day that same dad comes home and sees one of the children playing with wood. "What are you making?" , he asks . "A table ," replied the child. "And why ? " . "For you, Dad, for when you get old like Grandpa".
"This story did me a lot of good, all my life. Grandparents are a treasure. The Letter to the Hebrews, the twelfth chapter tells us: ' Remember your leaders, who have preached to you, those who have preached the Word of God. And considering their outcome imitate their faith. The memory of our ancestors brings us to the imitation of faith. At times old age many is a little hard, is it not? The illnesses that it brings and all that, but the wisdom that our grandparents custody is the legacy that we must receive. A people who do not cherish their grandparents, a people who do not meet their grandparents, has no future, because it has no memory, it has lost its memory . "
"We will do well to think of the many old and elderly people, many who are in nursing homes , and even many - it is the ugly word, but let's say it - who are abandoned to themselves. They are the treasure of our society":
"We pray for our grandfathers, our grandmothers, who often have had a heroic role in the transmission of the faith in times of persecution . When mom and dad were not at home and also had strange idea , that the policies of that time taught, the grandmothers were the ones who passed on the faith. The fourth commandment is the only one that promises something in return. It is the commandment of mercy. Be compassionate with our ancestors. Today let us petition the old Saints - Simeone , Anna , Polycarp and Eleazar - so many old Saints : Let us ask for the grace to cherish, to listen to and venerate our elderly, our grandparents . "
Strong pro-family stance displayed here. Will the left still paint him as the anti-Benedict?
Of course.
They will spin this into him wanting to support an expansion of government-funded pensions.
They could if they remove the context like they always do. The context refers to families taking care of their elderly, but yes, the anti-family left would certainly omit that.
Exactly. And then the MSM will pick it up and broadcast it as if it's fact. And some FReepers (including, sadly, some Catholics) will take it and say "SEE, I TOLD YOU HE WAS A SOCIALIST!"
At least that's been the pattern.
The media is trying to create a Francis in their own image.
Any resemblence between the media-created, bobble head Francis and the Real Jose Maria Bergoglio are purely coincidental.
Beautiful remarks.
However, it’s a sad fact that some elderly people are isolated because of their own life decisions. In this situation, Christians have to demonstrate the self-sacrificing love of Christ, so that people who may have been self-centered for decades can see and feel the alternative.
awesome!
**In this regard, the Pope recalled a story he heard as a child. The protagonist is a family - “dad, mom, many children” - and a grandfather, who when he ate soup at the table “dirtied his face”. Annoyed, the father buys a coffee table to isolate his parent. One day that same dad comes home and sees one of the children playing with wood. “What are you making?” , he asks . “A table ,” replied the child. “And why ? “ . “For you, Dad, for when you get old like Grandpa”.**
Good illustration of the harm and the good a family can do.
** Today let us petition the old Saints - Simeone , Anna , Polycarp and Eleazar - so many old Saints : Let us ask for the grace to cherish, to listen to and venerate our elderly, our grandparents . “**
Amen!
Seems to me that a country that has no respect for the elderly has no future not because it has no memory but because it has no respect for life.
If there is no respect for the intrinsic value of life, the culture and society are doomed. The lack of respect for the elderly is a symptom of that lack of respect for life.
When life becomes a cheap commodity which value is only in dollars, then we’ve had it.
It must also be noted that the greatest of the enemies of socialism is history.
Socialism itself is, oddly enough, a *parody* of Judea-Christendom, a rewriting of the Bible to make mankind the center of the universe, displacing God. With this in mind, the deepest depths of their philosophy are nonsensical corruptions of the Book of Genesis.
Their primary goal is not the achievement of heaven, but for mankind to return to their bizarre version of the Garden of Eden. To get there, mankind must be stripped of what displaced him, or drove him out of the Garden. This being the knowledge of good and evil, and the memory of the past.
The permutations of these ideas ripple through socialist thought. Things such as environmentalism, moral relativism, and an utter rejection of objective truth and the study of the past. Each of these things result in horrific suffering, which socialists not only endorse, but encourage.
Their ultimate environmentalism has as its goal the extermination of 90% of the human species. Their moral relativism rejects the idea of lawfulness and criminality.
And their rejection of objective truth and history means that not only do they appear to lack pattern recognition of their terrible and destructive failures, they are proud of it, as they do the equivalent of bashing other people’s hands with hammers, insisting that it is good for them, if they only accept it as such.
In practice, socialism is an utter failure, led by people so arrogant and indifferent to the harm it causes that they would destroy the world if they could, because their perverted religion demands it.
Their efforts to parody God have not made them righteous, but only made them reflections of The Enemy, if it could be called Satan, their vanity made in its image.
>>>“For you, Dad, for when you get old like Grandpa”>>>
Many of you will remember the short story I’m about to relate, but for those who haven’t heard it, you’ll see the similarity with today’s version.
A son took his elderly father down to the lake and put him in a leaky basket. Just before his son pushed the basket into the water his father said to him, “Save the basket.”
Other cultures shine here, whereas the Americans tend to shun the elderly.
Think about those families that house their grandparents, parents and their own nuclear family in one house.
Insightful, ping!
“Honor thy father and thy mother....”
It doesn’t say one has to love them.
There are going to be some politicians who are putting economic considerations on providing medical treatment for those of retirement age that may not like this. But most of them, don’t care for the Pope without him saying this.
“Death Panels” anyone?
““Honor thy father and thy mother....”
It doesn’t say one has to love them.”
So true.
I watched my mother die, who was rather hard to love. We honored her and cared for her, but she was sharp-tongued and self-centered. It made it difficult. I’m sure God has been merciful to her, in light of the sacrifices and suffering she endured in life, and her loyalty to Christ. Nevertheless, she was hard to love.
I am resolved to be as loveable and kind as I can be when I am old. I want bonds of real affection with my family in old age, not merely filial duty or respect for my status as mother.
The government would rather funnel money into nursing homes, so they will have a pot of money at their disposal to regulate said homes.
‘Sort of reminds me of struggles I had:
“We were never intimate ... while she was our Mother – but Mines in the same Ground meet by tunneling and when she became our Child, the Affection came.” —Emily Dickinson
But it strikes me you’ll do very well, Grandma.
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