(59 unread) - yelbeltran - Yahoo! Mail http://us.mg60.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?.

rand=6iaubo4tgc3mk

AN ODE TO THE AGED

Let me share with you some lines from a forwarded email entitled “You
Know You’re Getting Old When”
— Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes
and you’re barefoot.
— You’re suffering from Mallzheimer’s disease. You go to the
mall and forget where you parked your car.
— When you find yourself in the middle of the stairs and you
can’t remember whether you’re going up or down.
— Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can’t
remember them either.
In today’s first reading, Sirach remembers the old figures of the
former covenant, particularly Elijah. Elijah is considered to be one of the
greatest prophets of old. It was said that every pious Jewish family still
reserves a seat in the dinner table in case Elijah suddenly comes back.
This sentiment is echoed in today’s Gospel when the disciples question
Jesus as to why the people seem to equate Him with the coming of Elijah.
But what I find heart-warming is the deep affection and reverence with
which Sirach remembers his ancestor Elijah. The whole reading is virtually
an ode of tribute to the place Elijah occupies in the hearts and collective
consciousness of the Jewish people.
Do we look at the senior members of our family, community or
Church with the same reverence? Admit it, most of the times, we relate to
them simply with a respectful silence that is actually a masked
indifference. The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen calls it “the chronological
arrogance of the present times.” This is an attitude which considers
everything and everyone that is old as old-fashioned, useless and
irrelevant, and conversely, everything new, modern and chic as significant.
But think of the wealth of knowledge that the old has and still can
contribute. An old Chinese proverb reminds us aptly, “If you want to know
what lies ahead up the road, ask those who are already on their way
back.” Fr. Joel O. Jason

1 of 1 12/10/2011 6:17 AM