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Thursday, 7 August 2014

How does one want to die?

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In yesterday's Financial Times, there is an article on the countries in the world which are "aging". Most of these are European countries, plus the United States, but not all.

Some are Asian.

I have written on this blog before about the sad spiritual decay of the elderly in this country. The old are expected just to end their days entertaining themselves and spending lots of money on living as long as possible.

See this post but go to the end, as I have more to write about this.

Saturday, 1 February 2014

A Tragic Cultural Reality-Ignoring the Interior Life

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I was in the doctor's office on Thursday and decided to look at two magazines, which catered to those who are retired.

These types of magazines have names like "Maturity Plus", or "The Best Years", or "Modern Retirement",

I was shocked at what I saw.

An entire world of retirement unfolded in the pages which dealt with one thing only-pleasure.

Articles on sex after retirement, romantic relationships, advertisements for cruises, holidays in every warm place in the world, diets for the retired and even clothing for the comfort of the retired. Housing is also advertised.

The extremely depressing articles in these magazines were the calendars of events for the local retirements condos and communities. Let me make a list. These were daily occurrences.

Bridge and other card games
Dances
Movies
Talks on Flowers or whatever
Craft sales of trivia
Special theme dinners
Field trips
Fashion shows
Parties to cover all the holidays
Health issues seminars
Insurance seminars
More holiday information
Aerobics and other exercises
Golf
Swimming
Shopping trips (Why buy more?)

The elderly have been reduced to children in the playground. They are being led back to the sandbox when they should be concentrating on meeting God face to face. Now, these things may be good in themselves, but there comes a time when the interior life but take precedence over the exterior.

This is one reason why God lets us age and lose our outward beauty, so that we are faced with working on our inward beauty.


Where is there anything about the following?

Preparing for death
Examination of conscience
Developing a prayer life
Moving into the journey and final stages of purification
Meditations on the Last Four Things: Death, Judgement, Hell, Heaven
Outreach to charities
Counseling younger Christians
Going to Adoration
Praying outside the abortion clinics
Volunteering in churches, food banks, etc.
Spiritual direction
Bible studies

The other worrying thing I saw were services in some of these places in non-denominational chapels with non-denominational chaplains.

Mass? Confession? Adoration?

What have we done and why? God has blessed many of us with the declining years of our lives in order to come closer to him. These years should not be a mirror image of the active years of career or house making, child-bearing or making money.

These are the years left for the building of the interior life of the soul. But, if this generation of the elderly are being taught and encouraged only to think of the exterior and pleasure, as if they are getting their heaven on earth, their earthly reward, they are missing out on the possibility for true holiness, for perfection, which comes not from the pursuit of busyness or trivia, but from reflection, study, reading the Scriptures, intense prayer, quiet.

Not only have we created in the West a youthful generation of narcissists, we have allowed our elderly to fall under the spell of  "me-ism". How sad, that some, who thought they were on the way to heaven in their youth, may find the door shut to them at the end of a long life.


Matthew 25:11-13

Douay-Rheims 
11 But at last come also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answering said: Amen I say to you, I know you not.
13 Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.












What I want to add are these thoughts.

Too many people die spiritually before they die physically. Why is this? Do they think that their lives are over because they have raised their children?

I have noticed in convents and monasteries how young the nuns and sisters are even at a great age. Why is this?

Why is it that one finds out that the spry monk in the monastery is actually 90?

What is the difference which allows for those who have followed a way of hard work, really hard work, praying, meditating and working with one's hands, to live longer and stay keen as well?

Why do so many people give up, go into a shell, and become cut off from the larger world, or worse, the spiritual world, when they get old?

I have one answer. They have not developed the habit of responding to grace. They have sailed into old age without the struggle for perfection. 

They have not experienced,or have given up, the purgation of the Dark Night.

I am living in a breath taking area of natural beauty. But, most of the people here are ten years or more older than I am. One reason is that the young must move because unemployment is a serious problem here.

But, another reason is that there is a strange miasma of death and decay which comes from the lack of a spiritual life in the culture. In other words, materialism and consumerism have choked out life in the souls of those around here.

When I  visited Ireland and was in the monastery there, a woman told me that the problem with Irish men, (she was unmarried and said she would never marry an Irishman), was that too many Irishmen lived in the past. They did not want to move on into the bold and exciting world of an adult. They wanted to remain children, or adolescents. They did not want to claim there manly place in today's world.

Our baptismal vows demand that we claim our place in the world. We are called to bring souls to Christ. This demands activity, involvement, not curling up in a cave.

One famous priest came out against "man caves". He was referring to what in my dad's day was called a "den". He said that there should be no place for a man to hide and merely fulfill his whims, be these football and beer, or playing games on the computer.

The man who is head of the family must be involved as the Catholic leader, in his house and in the world.

Those who grow old and hide have been doing this for years, mentally and emotionally, as well as spiritually.

There is nothing grand for them to do as they turned their backs on the call of Christ all their lives. 

Like Dorothy in yesterday's post, they would rather spend their time and money on themselves, on trivia, on food, on drink then spread the Light of Christ. Sadly, that light has been under a bushel for so many years, it had died for want of oxygen.

Let us members of the Church Militant die "killed in action". That is the only way to go.
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