By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
At the invitation of the Catholic Centre, I hosted a book sharing session on August 30 on the 17th floor of Grand Building to introduce a book: Answering God’s Call: A Scripture-Based Journey for Older Adults. The author, Barbara Lee, is a celibate American lawyer, a former magistrate, who came across Ignatian spirituality at the age of 40.
After retiring, she took care of her own mother. She later studied theology and, at the age of 80, she became a spiritual counsellor and an author. Her book aims to bring readers back to the habit of reading the Bible and to have a profound encounter with the Word.
Through the stories of 20 biblical figures who have responded to God’s call, and through Ignatian Contemplation and the Lectio Divina, she invites us to reflect on God’s calling and encourages the elderly, in particular, to make courageous choices and to respond to God’s call as they face their senior years.
As a diocesan vocation promoter, I have been arranging a lot of formation for young people, accompanying and assisting them in responding to their vocation and in finding the direction of their lives. Earlier, it was proposed that vocations should begin in the family and with children. In response to the pope’s invitation on the occasion of the World Children’s Day, a series of formation meetings were held for children in the diocese.
In the process, the diocese discovered the importance of children’s pastoral care, and so it formally set up the Diocesan Committee for the Development of Children Ministry on September 1, and I have become the convener of this group.
After reading the book, I am reminded that I have to answer God’s call at every stage of my life, to explore and discover the unique call he has given to each and every one of us, be it a child, a young person, an adult or an elder. It is believed that in parish or diocesan pastoral work, most of the pastoral care for the elderly consists of arranging services, visits, caretaking, or organising social activities for them, etc.
It seems that no thought has ever been given to accompanying the elderly, or to encouraging them to discover their vocation. Yet the book encourages people to think about the vocations and missions that may come to us in our old age and how we can discern and respond to the call of God.
Furthermore, through Ignatian Spirituality, we are also invited to reflect on how to make the best use of the gifts and blessings of senior people, instead of setting limits, and to become disciples who have the courage to follow Jesus in the second half of our lives, to be more fervent in our prayers, to be willing to share and to serve, and to have faith and hope in the future.
In the Diocese of Hong Kong, we have a Youth Commission, a Commission for Marriage and the Family, and now we have set up a the Diocesan Committee for the Development of Children Ministry. I wonder if there will be a pastoral development group for the elderly in the future?
However, in any case, in the life of the Church, the most active in prayer are the elderly. We are really thankful to the elderly who, when they were young served in the Church and built a good foundation of faith for the community, and who, even when they are old, still continue to contribute to the Church through their daily prayers.
Those elderly people who participate in the Mass every day to pray for the world and the Church continue to serve through their faithful prayers and perseverance in faith.
Elders are treasures in a family. We are very thankful that there are so many elderly people in our Church family who, through their lives, pray daily and answer God’s call to be witnesses for him.
