The most diabolical of all temptations may be that of discouragement. It leaves us disconnected with God – the source of all hope – with ourselves and with one another. In singling as world-wide crises the loneliness of the aging and the unemployment of the young, our Holy Father acknowledges two consequences of the hopelessness that is so pervasive today. Each of these represents a failure to connect in a most vital way with God, ourselves and one another.
No doubt after the overwhelming success of the recent World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis was moved by the faith, energy and zeal of so many young people attending that celebration, often at great personal sacrifice to many of them and their supporters. At the same time, he was doubtlessly well aware of the suffering and alienation of so many others even in that city itself where, prior to the festivities, hoards of homeless, abused and socially rejected young citizens were forcibly relocated by authorities to God-knows-where so as to avoid any spectacle of disorder. What a waste of humanity it is to resort to putting people away like vermin driven out by exterminators. This, unfortunately, is not a practice confined to Rio.
An experience of being ostracized or thrown out is shared by many modern-day sisters and brothers of the lepers we heard of in last Sunday’s Scriptures. Loneliness and alienation is by no means confined to the elderly but often more acutely felt by them because of the added progression of physical and mental vulnerability. Yet nothing is more likely to discourage an aging person more than to witness the despair of the young. Nothing will sap the motivation of the young more than to lose connections with the wisdom and encouragement that only an older friend or grandparent might provide.
Parish priests are in a uniquely favorable position to serve as a bridge of hope to both the young and aging who feel less valued and loved. It is – or should be – the bread and butter of the daily practice of living out their vocation to visit the sick and aging, reaching out to them wherever they may be hidden or confined. At the same time, as companions to so many young (and maybe not so young) who hunger for the affirmation of a fatherly smile, they have the graced mission of being a presence from which healing can come forth not only by word but especially by example. And it is essential that everyone pray for priests and an increase of this indispensable vocation for the service not only of the Church but the entire world.
No disciple is excluded from the mission to bear Gospel hope. October is “Respect Life” month. No doubt our first thoughts are to seek to protect and defend the most vulnerable of human lives around us such as the unborn, the infirm, the mentally and physically handicapped, those suffering from serious addictions – and those suffering from feelings of despair and loneliness, younger and older alike. We also need to pray for an awareness that those of us who do not find ourselves in any of these states also become aware of our own poverty and complementary need for those to whom we reach out.
There is nothing wrong with a decent sense of satisfaction from work well done. The Scriptures tell us that after God created the world and all the creatures in it, He Himself said these things are good. But the joy of God is in looking at the good He does for its own sake, not in waiting for a second opinion. For all of us, the best way to avoid discouragement is to do the good for its own sake, to value and affirm every human being for their own life – and not for the give-back.
God loves it when we appreciate the good things He does just like we all like to receive affirmation for the good that we do.
But our happiness is not dependent on the praise and attention others give us when we are confident in the goodness of what we are doing. Virtue is its own reward, it has been said. It leads us to thank the light of God’s grace rather than curse the darkness.