Catholic Dads

John Paul I and the heart of old people

September 1st, 2010

Father to Father is a weekly feature, appearing each Wednesday, examining what the church, through the office of the Pope, is saying to us fathers. You can subscribe to the newsfeed here.

==========

A few days ago – August 26 – marked the anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul I to Throne of St. Peter.

Known as the “Smiling Pope”, JPI’s papacy was brief. It lasted just 33 days.

As you can imagine, the short amount of time spent as Roman Pontiff meant that only a small amount of his wisdom ever escaped to touch the ears of Catholics the world over.

Yet Pope John Paul I managed to say a few things about parents!

In his September 6, 1978 Wednesday General Audience, the Holy Father spoke about the need to be good, observing the commandments and loving our neighbor…our neighbor at one of three levels: above, our level, and below. At one point he relates the following:

As Bishop of Venice, I sometimes went to homes. Once I found an elderly woman, sick.
—How are you?
—Well, the food is all right!
—Are you warm? Is there heating?
—It’s good.
—So you are content?
—”No” She almost began to cry.
—But why are you crying?
—My daughter-in-law, my son, never come to see me. I would like to see my grandchildren.

Heat and food are not enough, there is the heart; we must think of the heart of our old people. The Lord said that parents must be respected and loved, even when they are old.

As parents, do we think about the hearts of our parents? How easy it is, in the bustle of life, when distance is often a barrier, to relegate to the last place the spiritual and emotional needs of our parents?

We are blessed to have both sets of parents alive and living in the same city in which we live. So we take advantage of this, spending most Sundays as a family visiting family.

What about you? How do you “think of the heart” of your parents? In what ways are your children involved?

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks