Lenten Campaign 2025
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Throughout his pontificate, St. John Paul II always made it a priority to visit nursing homes and hospitals, thanking the elderly for their prayers.
As he grew older and his health deteriorated, St. John Paul II reflected more and more on the role of the elderly in society.
One of his final messages, his Message for Lent in 2005, placed a special emphasis on the elderly.
Not a burden
St. John Paul II believed that the elderly should not be looked at as a burden to society, but as a great asset:
It is necessary to raise the awareness in public opinion that the elderly represent, in any case, a resource to be valued. For this reason, economic support and legislative initiatives, which allow them not to be excluded from social life, must be strengthened.
In particular, he spoke strongly against any idea that the elderly should be killed through euthanasia or assisted suicide:
Human life is a precious gift to be loved and defended in each of its stages. The Commandment, "You shall not kill!", always requires respecting and promoting human life, from its beginning to its natural end.
St. John Paul II’s public example of aging was itself powerful, as it showed how much strength he had in spite of his bodily weakness.
Old age and the cross
He believed that old age is a time when we all can contemplate more fully the mystery of death and the cross:
If growing old, with its inevitable conditions, is accepted serenely in the light of faith, it can become an invaluable opportunity for better comprehending the Mystery of the Cross, which gives full sense to human existence.
Often we can try to run away from old age and try to “live forever” on earth. However, we need to learn to accept the mystery of death and to embrace it, acknowledging it as the only pathway to eternal life.
We may try to cheat death and seek for that elixir that will give us endless youth, but we will be sorely disappointed. Old age comes for us all and it is a part of life on earth that has great value.
Being old isn’t easy and it comes with much pain and suffering.
The good news, even though we may not always see it as good, is that old age unites us more fully to Jesus on the cross and we can stand fully united to him in his last agony.
The older we get, the closer we are drawn to Jesus, who invites us to ascend the wood of the cross and breathe out our last in union with him.
It was fitting that St. John Paul II would reflect on old age during the final Lent of his life on earth. It was his time to ascend the cross and to be united to Jesus in his suffering and death.
