Posted by The WORD in other words (2022) by Fr Dionisio Miranda SVD — Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay City
December 29 / Octave of Christmas
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
“And what do you want to be when you grow up?” Kids will naturally define themselves by the future roles they dream about, whether we ask them or not. Ironically because they usually believe in an open-ended future, youth is often the right but also the wrong time to ask “reasons for being.” That said, the disruptions of our school systems, exacerbated today by the pandemic, lend the questions of existence, dreams, and career more urgency and specificity than in the past.
At midlife, one’s circumstances are usually set – one has married, is raising a family, building up a business, growing in one’s career. You have a firmer grasp of what you can do, a clearer sense of who you are, and perhaps an outline of your future. But then a few may find themselves at a crossroads – the ideal marriage has proven to be an illusion, the kids refuse to line up according to your desired image, money is never enough, and the workplace often feels toxic. The rest may be caught in an indeterminate state, torn between reasonably content and vaguely dissatisfied, wondering, “Is this the best way to do this?” “Is this as far as I can go?”
Those who reached retirement expect that work-life is pretty much finished, so one can now tend to unfinished personal business, which may not be realistic, because friends and colleagues will now occupy you with their own varied concerns. Family often prevents us from full retirement; in our multi-generational households and complex social relationships, a quiet life is virtually impossible. A few will surely regret that, having so much resources and unregulated time, they no longer have the energy to develop a hobby into a career, or the stamina to travel.
How to respond to these phases of human life? “Small minds gossip about persons and their foibles; average minds discuss events and how they affect society and politics; great minds debate ideas and create culture.” That saying suggests a frame for us to tie our reflections together and to reflect on the Gospel as we close one year and prepare to begin another.
For the young, raising the question of one’s raison d’etre or one’s reason for being, is usually regarded as an abstraction best postponed for moments of crises, which young people also hope will never come. Unfortunately the pandemic has already provoked a crisis, reshaping the faith question for youth: where does the Gospel fit in the dreams of our youth today?
For those past youth but not yet elderly, everyone is being forced by COVID-19 to dislocations from our comfort zones, adjustments to novel ways of being and being-with, second and third journeys, or protracted goodbyes. How deeply has Jesus become our Truth, our Way, and our Life? How can we personally respond to Pope Francis’ call to solidarity in Fratelli Tutti?
For the young, middle, and senior elders, the stilling of time invites reflection. What sense can I draw from the life I had actually lived? Where was God’s hand in it? Does any moment stand out as defining, or consummating, like that of Simeon finally holding the Savior in his arms? The joke about grandparents shifting to another “apo-stolate” may hold a particular truth – that what remains of sunset years is best spent nurturing those at the dawn of their life.
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