Elderly: Society’s Greatest Treasures

The Holy Father, himself a senior – and so am I, although I’m more than a decade younger than Pope Francis – recently called on the faithful “to care for grandparents, for without them there is no future.”  His homily delivered during Mass at Casa Santa Marta on November 19, followed a program I heard last Sunday on the CBC, which described the work done in Montreal by Les Petits Fréres. At present only available to French-speakers in Montreal, Les Petits Fréres pairs up isolated seniors with younger people, who volunteer their time to visit with matched-up seniors. The original program began in France after WWII by Armand Marquiset, a Catholic intellectual, and is now in various countries. I think we really need such a program in English-speaking Canada. What about it, seniors? As Pope Francis said: “The elderly are those who carry history, that carry doctrine, that carry the faith and give it to us as an inheritance.” Let’s do our part.

-Grace Deutsch, Editorial Director: Parish & School Resources