Theme of Pope’s general audience: ‘The departure and the legacy: memory and testimony’
March 24, 2022
On March 23, Pope Francis continued his series of Wednesday general audiences devoted to old age and reflected on the elderly’s transmission of faith in light of the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32).
“IIn our continuing catechesis on the meaning and value of old age, viewed in the light of God’s word, we now turn to the special vocation of the elderly to hand on to new generations their personal experience of the Church’s faith,” Pope Francis said to pilgrims gathered in Paul VI Audience Hall, in the words of the official summary of his remarks. “At the end of the exodus, the aged Moses hands down in a magnificent song his own long experience of faith in the Lord who remains ever faithful to his promises.”
The summary continued:
This “handing on” of the experience of faith is the essence of the living Tradition of the People of God. In our own day, the Church’s efforts to evangelize, catechize, transmit and explain her faith certainly takes place with the aid of books, films and other resources, yet nothing can replace the direct person-to-person testimony of a life-long experience of closeness to God in faith.
In a world that at times seeks to cancel aspects of history and culture, or replace truth with fake news or propaganda, we greatly need the wisdom and experience of the elderly to help new generations know the Church from the inside, to live lives of fidelity to God’s word, to persevere in hope amid trials, and to show compassionate love for all our brothers and sisters.
May we value this precious vocation of the elderly as we cherish the gifts of the past and look forward to the fulfilment of God’s promises in the coming of his Kingdom.
Texts of the Pope’s previous general audiences on old age:
(There was no general audience on March 9, during the First Week of Lent, as the Pope and members of the Roman Curia were on retreat.)
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