Last June, the meeting with the friars affected by age and health limitations in the Province of France/Belgium prompted me to some reflections. In many homes and infirmaries around the world, in fact, I meet friars who have lived in the Province as if on mission: several are serene and passionate about our future and patiently live the withdrawal from activity and illness, whilst others struggle more. I collect beautiful testimonies of life from friars who take care of the elderly, even together with people who come from outside.
So far, I have also met friars who have experienced very difficult situations, such as very serious disabilities or significant mental suffering, in addition to the consequences of proceedings for abuse or other serious shortcomings. They were very intense moments for me, even emotionally.
I also meet elderly and infirm friars who are cared for in their respective local fraternities, guaranteeing them welcome and dignity at this age and condition of life. Often the whole provincial fraternity takes charge of this condition of life, which we do not want to relegate to the margins.
In all these circumstances we are called to live our vocation as Friars Minor at the different stages of life, up to its last phase. Vocation, in fact, does not concern us only when we are efficient, but also when we are more vulnerable and seem humanly "useless".
The weakness that marks us through these most fragile brothers and sisters is a sign and we want to welcome it in faith and not with resignation or fatalism. I wonder if the Lord does not ask us today to respond to our vocation precisely in this reality of weakness, welcomed as an opportunity.
We are not alone in this challenge. In fact, in many societies the number of elderly people is growing and poses many human, social and even economic challenges. The answer often seems to be to marginalize or isolate the elderly in protected environments, felt as a problem rather than as a presence and wealth. The resentment of the new generations for the situation left by the previous ones also often grows.
For this reason, our way of accompanying this age of life can become a prophetic sign, in a culture where the tendency towards death is growing as a response to weakness and suffering, felt as unbearable and even inhuman.
In all this, I wonder what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to us through so many elderly and infirm friars and Sisters present amongst us. Thanks to them, it seems to me that we are driven first of all not to be afraid of decreasing and aging, to learn to face, process and live our limits and death as part of life. It is an important sign, which is good for us, also to be close to so many people of our time. If we accept this paschal logic, I am confident that we will be able to recognize what future the Spirit opens to us today, for a full life according to the Gospel.
