“Even to your old age and grey hairs I am He, I am He who sustains you. I have made you and I will carry you, I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isiah 46:4
This is the promise of God for the righteous one, for the one who looks up to Him, for us.
I used to think ageing was full of pleasure and stress free, but as I age I am having a different view. I see it has a lot of challenges; physical and emotional, as well as material. Health challenges could be a major one as well as other issues as sense of demand for rewards for seeds sewn in the past, in the different aspects of our lives, be it over our family, work or even our faith.
As we grow our health starts to gradually fail. For some, it is serious while some just experience slight deafness, blurriness in sight, weakness of the bones etc. Among the ageing, this could be used as fun pranking, for instance, getting off your car now need some adjustment and stylish step out. (laugh) Your friends who maybe standing by, could throw a joke at you, commenting on your steps. Yes, this could be funny but on the other hand serious.
Some people may refrain from social outings just because they feel they cannot walk in their high heel shoes, which actually they believe support their elegance, some might need to wear a special eye glasses which could be darkened, having to put this on in broad daylight may be a deterrent for their socialization.
Think about your own health challenge and ask yourself how this is affecting your socialization. Do what you have to do such as taking your medications, planning your outing and preparing yourself by dressing appropriately and more importantly comfortably. You need your good friends who appreciate old age and have good life values that support graceful ageing.
Sometimes, as people age they become agitated and impatient about life and relationships, they believe they have served people enough and it is payback time (a common saying,) they can no longer wait for delayed gratification. They are expectant of the goodies that they believe is now due to them and should start flowing from all angles. Mostly their children and families are the ones who suffer the impact of the consequence of their unfulfilled life expectation.
We must realise that the situation in which our young ones (our children) find themselves now is frustrating. The economies of countries are crashing and jobs are not easily available for the loads of graduates the Universities are churning out. Some of our children have left school for over 5 years, but yet to get a stable life because of unstable or no employment, parents still have to continue to support them one way or the other. Even for our generation, less than a few have had life easy and fulfilling and are able to say they have accomplished all that makes a man/ woman as it is. So finding yourself climbing the ladder of old age, you may become anxious and aggressive to a fault, before you know it you are beginning to dwindle in your faith in the promises of God for you and for me.
We need not allow ourselves to be anxious, for our Lord has already prepared the season for us and us for the season as stated in His word in Psalms 37: 25 “I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
It may tarry but be sure you will reap and reap bountifully upon your sweat and labour on your children, family and humanity as a whole. When it tarries, know the Lord is at perfecting it for His glory. Let not what you see of those who steal and loot be your attraction, for you have not been set for that. Their reward is already pronounced in 1Cor: 6: 1 “nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Beware, do not lose the faith you have built in your hay days, remember you have to bear fruit till your last day on this planet Earth, that you may receive the Crown of Glory. Ps.92:14
“Grey hair is a crown of glory” Prov. 16:31. Old age is a blessing and we should take good advantage by relying more on God’s blessings, which does not tarry but comes in due season. So my brother and my sister in Christ do not be disenchanted but wait faithfully on the Lord and be of good report. Keep being the example for others to follow, keep encouraging the young by doing the right and proclaiming the Word to their hearing that you may bear fruit in your old age as you age gracefully in Christ. Be a Winner in Christ.
I have been thinking a great deal about my experience at Reconciliation this past Saturday. I felt an intense and unexplainable urge to go and confess my sins when I woke up that morning. I try to go every six weeks or so, but this was no routine visit to the priest for me. I needed to unburden myself of the numerous venial sins I had committed since I last participated in this Sacrament.
Purest Gold: God's Refining Fire in our Lives »
After salvation, many young Christians wonder if there's anything more to their newfound faith than just the security blanket of "being a Christian." Time and time again, God shows himself as a "refiner," and our lives are as gold. God started leading me in this study to understand what He was doing in my life, as well as in the lives of others.
Picking up my pen to write this column, I couldn’t imagine how time flies. Since the last publication of this column I have gone through a lot, especially the loss of my dear mother to whom I dedicate this article. Not only her, but seems I lost a whole generation of my close family.
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“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings; He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29
Spiritual Development for our Youth »
Most of us youth in today's fast moving world are easily thrown off by difficulties and worries.
The theme of conversion is a thread that runs all through Lent, but conversion takes on different aspects throughout the phases of Lent. The first two and a half weeks focused on the interior turning of hearts; the liturgy urges the faithful to reflect and examine consciences thoroughly.
Saint Josephine Bakhita »
Feast Day: February 8
Patron Saint Of: Sudan
Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.
Catholics Must Fast More Intensely This Lent»
The Norbertine Canons of St. Michael's Abbey have created this digital Lenten retreat so that you can journey through this holy season alongside them. If you want to have one of your best Lenten seasons yet, join us in our Lenten Program "The Great Fast" - https://theabbotscircle.com/the-great-fast-join
When Your Faith Is Put to the Test - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon»
Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Abraham binds and is ready to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command.
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