The day after Pope Francis’ death April 21, the Vatican released a previously unpublished text containing the late pontiff’s reflections on aging and death.
“We must not be afraid of old age; we must not fear embracing becoming old, because life is life, and sugarcoating reality means betraying the truth of things,” wrote Pope Francis in the preface to a book in Italian by Cardinal Angelo Scola, “Awaiting a New Beginning: Reflections on Old Age,” available April 24.
In the late pope’s introduction to Cardinal Scola’s book, he expressed gratitude to the former archbishop of Milan for seeking to restore pride in aging, which he said is “too often considered unhealthy.”
The problem, Pope Francis asserted, is not that we grow old but how we grow old. For old age to become a time “truly fruitful and capable of radiating goodness,” Pope Francis stressed that it must be lived “as a grace, and not with resentment,” and accepted “with a sense of gratitude and thankfulness” in spite of suffering.
“Because to say ‘old’ does not mean ‘to be discarded,’ as a degraded culture of waste sometimes leads us to think,” Pope Francis wrote. “Saying ‘old’ instead means saying experience, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, thoughtfulness, listening, slowness … Values of which we are in great need!”
On this note, Pope Francis pointed to the role of grandparents in society, emphasizing their role in promoting the “balanced development of the young” and a culture of peace.
“Amid the frenzy of our societies, often devoted to the ephemeral and the unhealthy taste for appearances, the wisdom of grandparents becomes a shining beacon, shedding light on uncertainty and providing direction to grandchildren, who can draw from their experience something ‘extra’ for their daily lives,” he wrote.
Cardinal Scola’s writing, he said, “born from thought and affection,” bring the prospect of aging and death to bear in the context of Christianity, which he said “is not so much an intellectual or a moral choice but rather the affection for a person — that Christ who came to meet us and decided to call us friends.
“It is precisely the conclusion of these pages by Cardinal Angelo Scola, a heartfelt confession of how he is preparing himself for the final encounter with Jesus, that gives us a consoling certainty: Death is not the end of everything but the beginning of something,” Pope Francis wrote.
“It is a new beginning, as the (book’s) title wisely highlights, because eternal life, which those who love already begin to experience on earth within the daily tasks of life — is beginning something that will never end., he wrote. “And it is precisely for this reason that it is a ‘new’ beginning, because we will live something we have never fully lived before: eternity.”
