When we were young students in Rome, we used to watch the older Salesians in the University. Our thinking was: If they look happy, it is worth staying in; if they are not, why waste our life here?
Older people (especially those in leadership roles) set the tone. The young pick up what they see the oldies do, rather than listen to the advice seniors generously offer. Both the inspiring examples—at times heroic—and the poisonous bad influence stem from the old.
The cover story is about the fine art of aging gracefully. I was thinking of real people I know when I wrote it. Have a look at the tips offered, and see whether they match your experience—of aging and of dealing with seniors, beginning with parents, teachers and superiors.
The theory is completed by the testimonies of three seniors—a Sister who moved from being the principal of a prestigious school to working among the very poor in another country; a priest noted for his genuineness, simplicity and lack of bitterness; and a Brother who moved from being a movie fan to becoming an enthusiastic witness to Christ.
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How do we respond, personally and as a Christian community to the dread of the Coronavirus? A young religious priest shares his convictions.
Like most of you, I too have been reading some of the avalanche of information on this frightening malady, and felt inspired by those doing exhausting and even dangerous service among the sick, especially our medical personnel. I was inspired to read what a young Sister Doctor wrote to me: “Yes, of course, we need to take proper precaution. But I am not at all afraid even to go to China or any part of India to mingle with and treat ‘positive’ cases, because without ‘His’ knowledge and awareness nothing happens in my life.”
It is easy to get cynical, or to gossip, or find fault, but we should not forget the heroes and heroines among us, right? It is not the grumblers who move the world forward, but those who take risks to do good, move beyond comfort zones, and put others’ safety and survival above one’s own convenience. Wars and tragedies bring out the best and worst in human beings. We see both how low we can go, and how high we can fly. May the pandemic bring out the best in us!
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Want to see the best and worst right next to us—both the cruelty human beings can inflict and the exquisite kindness with which others in the same setting reach out to the victims? We saw both this in Delhi this year. We can all learn from the frightening capacity for evil that human carry within, and the huge reservoirs of goodness we can tap into. Look at the religious, priests and lay volunteers who reached out to victims of violence.
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Our regular features have their fans, I know. Good. That is well deserved. May more and more readers benefit from the competence and wisdom of our writers. As we grow older—who isn’t?—may we truly turn out be a work of art, of whom God and those who love us can be proud. As a student at Madras University once challenged me, “You are doing a lot. Is that what is most important for you? Do you think about what kind of a human being you want to be by the time you die? Isn’t that life’s greatest achievement?”
Fr Joe Mannath SDB
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