Our beautiful elderly

By Father Richard Ho Lung

The Lord tells us, 'Despise not a man in his old age; for we too shall become old.' Sirach 8:9. Yet, everywhere our missionaries go, we find the elderly who are forsaken and put aside. Even the United States has revealed to us in Monroe, North Carolina, lonely old folks living in modest homes or one-room apartments and even in tents, without food, without medicines, without friends - talking to themselves in solitary confinement, much more so than in Haiti, Jamaica, the Philippines, Uganda and Kenya, India and Indonesia.

Society is so structured that the healthy and strong are too busy to care for the elderly. In a family, both adults are working. There is TV as the companion of the elderly and the children, rattling on its empty-headed concerns for selling and buying.

There is a treasure house of experiences and wisdom that the elderly possess. There is a wealth of understanding and years of formed humility and patience attained by the elderly - golden wisdom and good judgement distilled by so many mistakes made and lessons learned.

Yes, the elderly require care. They cared for their children, why won't the children care for the elderly who have returned to their second childhood?

MANY HISTORIES

If you look at the faces of our elderly at our residences, you will see in the wrinkles on their face and hands a history of fascinating experiences that are etched out like a geography map, telling of the high and low points of their personal lives. These old folks tell us especially of their suffering, struggles that took part in their souls, emotional realities, and yet, for the most part, they are grateful, their eyes are full of rejoicing: after all is said and done, life has been worth living.

Hundreds and even thousands of homeless and destitute elderly people have lived with the Missionaries of the Poor brothers free of cost and without government aid over the years. They live with us, they die with us. We feed them, clothe them, offer them medicine - spiritually as well as physically. We share stories with them and, most important, we tell them about the Lord.

There have been miracles; there have been miseries. But we continue to love them: young brothers cooking, cleaning, shaving, clothing all day long. Before they die, the brothers see the expressions of bitterness changed to smiles, sometimes laughter, and a sense that God is good, and better will come in everlasting life.

It has been a privilege working with the old, even as I, too, join their ranks as a Missionary of the Poor Brother.

Father Richard Ho Lung is founder and superior general of the Missionaries of the Poor. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and mopfathergeneral@missionariesofthepoor.org.