The beginning of September always brings me another birthday. While it is somewhat concerning that they seem to be coming more quickly in recent years, I always welcome my birthday as an opportunity to thank God and my parents for the gift of life. That I now legitimately qualify for the senior price reduction at my barber shop has been an additional reason to celebrate this year.
I sometimes wonder if my sense of age is accurate. Even when my father was pushing 90, he would comment on the driving habits of the “old people” in Florida in a way that clearly demonstrated that he didn’t see himself as being in that category. In a society that so highly values youth, there’s a resistance to admitting that we are getting old.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Many of you have heard me preach in the past on St. Philip Neri, an Italian saint who revitalized the Church of Rome in the 16th century through his particularly joyful ministry. As a seminarian in Rome, I would often make a visit to the chapel where his body was interred on my way to and from class, and I soon came to appreciate both his example and his intercession, especially in my own vocational discernment.
Not surprisingly, the parishioners at the Church that he built (still called “Chiesa Nuova” — the New Church — after 400 years), would often pray a litany to St. Philip. I always found particularly intriguing one of the invocations in that litany: “Modello della vecchiaia, prega per noi,” translated by St. John Henry Newman, an Oratorian son of St. Philip, as “Picture of old age, pray for us.” I love the implication that aging can be a pathway to sanctification and that there’s a saintly way to grow old. Even as St. Philip himself experienced the physical limitations that often come with advanced years, his generosity and joy continued to attract others to him, especially young adults who were otherwise losing their way. His brother Oratorians found his pastoral zeal to be inspiring up until the end of his life at age 80.
We are blessed in this archdiocese by the inspiring example of so many senior priests and consecrated women and men who continue to provide a compelling witness to what Christ is able to do in the lives of those who say “yes” to his call. I am always motivated by their willingness to pour out their lives in humble service long after their peers in the secular world have retired. It’s remarkable how often the calls for emergency anointings in our hospitals or Mass coverage in our parishes are answered by our retired priests. Thank you!
Our parishes and families are likewise sustained and enriched by the active involvement of lay leaders who serve so generously in their golden years. I recently had the opportunity to spend a delightful evening with the Ambrosians, a group at the parish of St. Ambrose in Woodbury for those over the age of 50. The energy in the room clearly rivaled that of any youth group. I loved hearing of their commitment to Christian service, spiritual growth, and socializing for the purpose of building community. They’re supporting food shelves and serving at shelters and nursing homes, they are volunteers for parish festivals and events, and they serve as our faithful lectors and extraordinary minsters of holy Communion, all the while giving witness to their children and grandchildren. When I think about the many groups like that around the archdiocese, a veritable army of the faithful to be mobilized, I feel so blessed to be here.
Pope Francis has often recognized the treasure that our senior brothers and sisters represent for our Church. In his 2016 apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia,” he wrote of the vital role that senior citizens play in passing on the faith and, more generally, grounding our communities in the truth of the past: “Listening to the elderly tell their stories is good for children and young people; it makes them feel connected to the living history of their families, their neighborhoods and their country.” Observing that “memory is necessary for growth,” he concluded that “knowing and judging past events is the only way to build a meaningful future.” I can attest that I especially appreciated throughout the three years of our Synod process the insights shared by the Simeons and Annas in our midst, drawing on their decades of experience.
By God’s design, we have important gifts to share with our Church no matter our age. Even when the limitations of health prevent us from engaging in precisely the same way that we did when we were young, we still have something significant to contribute. Let us pray for a deeper gratitude for the gifts that God has given to us, and for the gifts so evident in our older sisters and brothers. Enriched by that gratitude, may we encourage one another to even greater and more joyful service with our eyes fixed only on Jesus, the one who humbled himself to take on human flesh and to grow in age.
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