How to meet the expectations of marginalized seniors

The MCR-VM of Switzerland was represented at the Congress "The Wealth of the Years" in Rome, by Willy Salin, the president of MCR-VM Switzerland, François Merçay, the head of the French-speaking Jura and Irene, the latter's wife: they gave the testimony of some twenty teams of their movement in Switzerland.

It has been observed that very old people need to be surrounded, visited.

Many of them are wonderfully accompanied by their families, while others, for various reasons, suffer from loneliness, due to the death of the spouse, the remoteness of the children, a distant neighborhood.

Other problems add to certain situations such as poverty that exists but is well hidden, or simply the fear of disturbing, asking for help, or a simple visit to get out of loneliness.

The pressure of modern society devalues old age as a non-productive expense while overvaluing youth, autonomy and success by denying the essential questions posed by any human being who grows old.

- How can I still be useful in this society?

- How do I deal with my sometimes painful past?

- What is the meaning of this last stage of my life?

All of these questions put pressure on seniors that creates suffering and withdrawal and increases isolation.

How can these situations be remedied?

The time when the parish priest could visit all the elderly is over! This mission is that of all Christians, and particularly that of the MCR-VM which aims to bring together the retired by creating bonds of friendship, of fraternity, to help them to deepen their faith in reflection on the annual themes, and to translate their Christian commitments into concrete actions.

MCR-VM members are trying to answer this:

In any helping action, observation, discretion, and listening are paramount attitudes. Our concern is to identify, in our neighborhood, single people, people who are not integrated, and to engage in dialogue with them or with their loved ones, to involve those who seem closer to us.

As for the seniors we live with and who are losing their independence, it is a question of preparing them to ask for help, to accept help.

In general, our older elders wait to be surrounded, to receive the visit of their children, grandchildren, their neighbors and friends or anyone else willing to listen to them, to  hear their life, the one that has never been said, the one buried deep within themselves and which now reappears in this long wait.

Listening to the Church with a message of mercy that soothes and reassures about God's unconditional love is important.

Let's all be waiting to let these great adventures germinate in our relationships.

The harvest being great, the local responsibles of the MCR-VM are also aging and would like the succession to emerge, that the new retirees take over; solutions should be found to make them aware of the challenges of a society on the move which must in no case abandon its elders..

What is their role in the Church?

When we talk about seniors, we tend to think of all retired people combined.

But living conditions, changes in hygiene and medicine mean that people remain healthier at the 3rd age and are not considered to be old until 75 to 80 years old, i.e. when they reach the 4th age. New retirees may well still play important roles in our Church, where there are fewer and fewer priests: leading Bible reading groups, elder groups, catechism groups, choirs, reading the Word in the church, ministers of the communion, visiting single people, animators engaged in funerals.

All these people freed from their professional activities can be actively involved in the life of the Church, thanks to their availability.

By advancing in age, certainly unevenly as regards the tribute to be paid to handicaps or diseases which can affect them, and limit them in their commitments, the persons concerned will enter the 4th age.

They will gradually abandon the activities of animation to turn to listening, meditation, prayer, but will not stop needing to be surrounded and visited.

They will be better able to carry their loved ones, their parish, the whole Church in their prayer. In themselves they will have progressively passed from an active attitude to a more contemplative attitude, but also so necessary, for all of us and for our Church.

All have their place in the Church and bear witness to their faith by committing themselves according to their possibilities: some in action, celebrations, preparation for the sacraments, feasts of the parish community; others by listening, sharing their experiences, mediating between generations, and testifying of their trust in God.

François Merçay