Sources of Wisdom, Witnesses of Hope and Love

    "The elderly are not only to be considered the object of our concern, closeness and service. They themselves have a valuable contribution to make to the Gospel of life. Thanks to the rich treasury of experiences they have acquired through the years, the elderly can and must be sources of wisdom and witnesses of hope and love."
                   --Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae ("The Gospel of Life"), No. 94

   Society too often and too easily promotes the lie that those who can't produce, who don't contribute as the majority does, have little or no worth. Little or no reason to remain alive.

    The Gospel of life counters that the elderly, the ill, the suffering serve a unique and precious role not only in society, but in the Church, in the parish and in the family. To be a caregiver is to travel for a time with one who has gained insight into the mysteries of life and death.