Word to the Wise
Friday, May 17, 2024 - 7th Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 25:13b-21 and John 21:15-19]"Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. [Jesus] said this signifying by what kind of death [Simon Peter] would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me." [John]
FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2024 FRIDAY IN THE 7TH WEEK OF EASTER
[Acts 25:13b-21 and John 21:15-19]
"Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. [Jesus] said this signifying by what kind of death [Simon Peter] would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me." [John]
The older I get [I am 81], the more significant this passage becomes, from the last chapter of the Gospel According to John. One of my duties as chaplain for the cloistered Dominican nuns in Lufkin, TX, is to take communion daily to one of the nuns at a skilled nursing home. It's a very nice place but there are many very elderly men and women whose lives may be described in the words of the gospel passage above. For many of them, there is a daily life of loneliness because even if they are well "cared for," the significant people in their lives are either deceased or absent. They are often simply waiting for "the end." For those who have religious faith, that waiting can take on a positive meaning. For others, the lines from Shakespeare's MACBETH about life seem to fit: "T'is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!"
Jesus has questioned Peter's faith: "Simon Peter, do you love me?" Peter protests his love and devotion. Jesus warns him about his [Peter's] fate. But the warning can be applied to all of us who reach the "golden years." The challenges of aging can require "dying to oneself" long before physical death. When Jesus says, "Follow me!" he can address those words to all of us who are elderly and experience the loss of independence that the gospel passage describes. The families who entrust their elderly to professional "caregivers" are also challenged by Jesus' words to remember that "caregiving" on their part does not stop with that arrangement. AMEN