As a society, humanity is growing older. During the next ten years, the number of people aged 60 years or over globally is projected to grow by 38 percent, from 1 billion to 1.4 billion, outnumbering youth. As a result, many scientists and researchers examine the process of aging to understand what life is like for those who are “getting on in years.” These studies tend to focus on the physical, emotional, and psychological effects of aging.
It is also important to look at the spirituality of aging, how our relationship with God changes as we grow older. Many people strive to maintain an intimate relationship with the Lord throughout their lives. This may be through a daily prayer routine and doing one’s best to love God and neighbor as Jesus commanded. These things ensure a healthy spiritual life and create a sense of community.
As we grow older, however, our ability to “do” becomes limited as our physical capacity diminishes. We begin to be faced more and more with our own mortality, and the reality of life’s shortness confronts us. As we lose friends and loved ones and experience our own decline, we think more about our passing from this life and increasingly contemplate what may happen at the end of our earthly existence.
Aging requires us to exercise another type of fortitude and perseverance. As our bodies grow older, it may become easy to allow our spiritual life to sag a little bit. It may become difficult to get to Mass and receive the Eucharist, or to find the energy to complete the spiritual exercises we are used to. Despite our best intentions, we may feel that our relationship with God will suffer.
But there are several things we can do to avoid that.
First, set aside time for quiet prayer each day. Just 10 or 15 minutes can make a huge difference.
Next, use aspirations to get you through difficult times. Short phrases like, “My Jesus, mercy” or “Jesus, I trust in You” can help to stay focused on the Lord during the day.
Divide up some of our spiritual exercises. For example, you might say a decade of the rosary several times throughout the day if it is difficult to do it all at once.
Finally, if you are unable to get to Mass, watch it on television and find out if your parish has an outreach to provide communion to those who are unable to get out of their homes.
Terence Cardinal Cooke, the former Archbishop of New York, in his book Thy Will Be Done, written before he died of cancer, said that he was sure when he got old or sick that he would spend his days in prayer, but when the time came, he didn’t want to pray. Maintaining our relationship with God in our golden days can be difficult, but it is necessary. Pray now that the Lord will grant us the grace of final perseverance.
Ghebreyesus, T.A. It takes knowledge to transform the world to be a better place to grow older. Nat Aging 1, 865 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00120-9
