The ideals of community which I have shared on this blog in the past week must include a real reaching out of the sick and elderly, as well as the disabled. In times of trial, these people are the most vulnerable along with children.
I sincerely believe that each Catholic married family should "adopt" a disabled person or an elderly person. When I lived in a place near an old lady years ago, my son and I adopted her, as her children did not live close by her flat. We made sure she was ok with food and company. We sat in her living room, and talked with her about her family far away.
She is gone now, but we remember her.
Our little family adopted another older woman in the neighborhood years ago. She had not been able to have children in her life, and after her husband died, she needed community.
So many people do not even realize the isolation of those in their neighborhoods. The deceit of socialism tells people that "there is always a government program" to care for the elderly. There are no government programs for sharing the Scriptures, or prayer, or taking people to Church on Sunday.
Some older people have told me that they are in the Dark Night of the Soul. They recognize the purification which is happening in their lives.
They welcome this. But, even though people are in the Dark Night, this does not mean that they should be completely isolated.
To share in the suffering of another person is not only a duty for the Catholic, but a grace.
We are all too busy to notice the little old lady in the store who takes a long time to shop, or the man who sits in the back of church at daily Mass who is a widower.
Each one of these persons is Christ among us. As Catholics, let us not forget or overlook those, who are the journey to eternal life, are approaching God. They may need us to encourage them on the way.
I sincerely hope that no old person ends up alone in a hospice or hospital, despairing of God, because no one noticed them in their church.
We are our brother's and sister's keepers.