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Adjusting
to a New Normal
Fr.
George Smiga
October
14, 2007
Luke
17:11-19
There
would be many advantages to St. Noel parish if it had a younger
pastor. He would have more energy; he would be more in touch
with the cultural issues of teens and young adults; he would
probably be willing to take more risks. There would be many
advantages. But as it is, you're stuck with me. That is not
all bad. I can think of at least one advantage of having a
pastor pushing sixty. He would be able to understand some
of the issues that face people in the later stages of life,
and he would be able to interpret to those issues in light
of the gospel. This is what I would like to do today. So I
apologize up front to all the teenagers and young adults,
if the issues we discuss today are not your issues. Although
I do believe that if you listen, you might find something
of value. And I certainly believe that these issues will become
more relevant, as you live another twenty, or thirty, or sixty
years.
There
are challenges to every period of life, but the challenges
and the issues that face us in our sixties and seventies and
eighties are particularly weighty. It seems that life is back
loaded with troubles.
As
we approach sixty we begin to worry about our health. We used
to face regular medical check-ups with ease. But now, as those
dates approach, there is an increase in anxiety. We know that
sooner or later the tests will not be good, and there will
be issues which must be addressed. As we get older we must
learn to say goodbye. We lose the people we love in death.
It might start with an associate, someone our own age or younger,
but we know that in time it will touch a spouse or a friend
on whom our life depends. As we approach these later decades
of life, time changes. We begin to realize that our time is
limited. When we purchase a new car, we ask ourselves, “How
many more times will I do this?” As we leave on a special
vacation, we wonder, “Will I be able to travel in the future?”
Even at holiday time, we begin to look forward. How many more
Christmases will I celebrate? As we hit our sixties, the horizons
of our life begin to shrink, and we can see on those horizons
troubles which we know we will soon have to face.
Now
clearly there are troubles at every stage of life. But troubles
are different in your twenties and thirties. In those years,
you face a crisis, push through it, and move on. You move
through that difficult job, that economic downturn, that broken
ankle. You get back to life as normal. In those years, normal
life is a life with infinite horizons. There are no clouds
in the sky. As you hit your sixties, the horizons begin to
shrink. You realize that even as you deal with one particular
trouble, there's another one waiting in the wings. You will
soon cope with a death of a parent, the return of your cancer,
the diminishing energy and enthusiasm which old age brings.
You realize that this is the way that life is going to be
from now on. You will not go back to those days when the horizon
was infinite and there were no troubles to be seen. You must
find a new kind of normal. Now, of course, there will always
be new and exciting experiences. But as we age, our options
shrink, and we realize that the cards we already hold are
the hand we will need to play.
So
how do we cope with these shrinking horizons? How do we live
this new kind of normal? Only with thankfulness! In today's
gospel, Jesus criticizes the nine lepers who do not return
to give thanks. He criticizes them not because he is personally
offended or petty. He criticizes them because he knows that
the only foundation to a joyful life is thankfulness. Unless
we are thankful, we cannot be happy. Therefore we must be
thankful in every circumstance and every period of life.
We
can be thankful in every period of life, but we must realize
that thankfulness changes as we grow older. When we are young,
thankfulness is pure and immediate. We push through a problem
and we immediately return to that normal life with an infinite
horizon and a blue sky. In later life, the clouds come in
and the horizons shrink. Yet, even then, we can be thankful
as long as we realize that thankfulness is different. In our
later years, thankfulness is not so much a response as it
is a choice. A choice to be thankful for the good things we
have today.
I
can choose to be thankful because today I have no pain, even
though tomorrow might be different. I can choose to be thankful
because today I can share a meal with the people I love, even
though I will not have them forever. I can choose to be thankful
because today I can share wisdom with a young person, even
though I know I might not live to see that wisdom reach its
fruition.
We
cannot be joyful without being thankful. And we can be thankful
even with clouds on the horizon. Our faith can help us here,
because we believe that in every period of life God will continue
to bless us, even as our horizons shrink. Being thankful in
our later years is different than being thankful when we are
young. But it is still real thankfulness, and it can still
bring real joy. In our faith we are confident that we can
remain thankful people in our seventies, and eighties and
nineties. We can remain thankful people to the end of our
lives, because with God's help we can choose thankfulness.
We can identify with the Samaritan in today's gospel. We can
raise our voices and shout, “I give thanks to God because
God has done great things for me!”
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