The Healing Journey

January 22, 2024

“The prayers of the elderly can protect the world, helping it, perhaps more effectively than collective anxiety.”
— Pope Benedict XVI

Grief is one of life’s greatest challenges, and the older we get, the more familiar we become with it, but familiarity doesn’t necessarily make it easier to endure, and eventually the elderly realize it’s impossible to escape the cycle of dying that comes with age. Theirs is a special kind of loneliness because not only have loved ones they cherished gone before them, but they often struggle to believe life is still worth living. How can they be hopeful?

However, in addition to loss and infirmity, old age gives us wisdom … and the opportunity to help young people navigate the challenges of life.

Pope Benedict XVI, who was no stranger to suffering, died at 95. He was one of the greatest minds in the modern Church, who witnessed firsthand the ravages of history because he lived in Germany during Nazism. In his later years, he spoke at a home for the elderly in Rome and told the residents:

“Dear elderly brothers and sisters, though the days sometimes seem long and empty, with difficulties, few engagements, and few meetings, never feel down at heart: You are a wealth for society, even in suffering and sickness. And this phase of life is also a gift for deepening your relationship with God. Do not forget that one of the valuable resources you possess is the essential one of prayer so become interceders with God, praying with faith and with constancy. Pray for the Church and pray for me, for the needs of the world, for the poor, so that there may be no more violence in the world. The prayers of the elderly can protect the world, helping it, perhaps more effectively than collective anxiety.

“If this is all we can do in our old age, it should be enough. No matter how much time we have ahead of us, we should use it to lead others to a deeper, more prayerful relationship with God. This is perhaps the greatest gift we can give.”

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