The Aged

by 
Silvia Marangoni

The friendship between young people and the elderly

Napoli - Italy

�Honour your father and your mother " (Dt 5.16); " Son, help your father in old age, do not sadden him during his life " (Sir 3, 12): the consideration for the elderly in the Scriptures is transformed into a commandment. The Community strives to check the widespread tendency to ignore the elderly, to marginalise them, in one word not to honour them. We have perceived the madness of a society that teaches its children to abandon those who are weakest, those who are old: young people, adults and elderly need one another. We have understood this since, as young students, we started that unique adventure that is the friendship with a person who is rich in years and history. That meeting between the generations was possible, even though it is commonly thought to be impossible. This is the secret of our service.

Old age is a fragile part of life, one more weakness for the poorest, but in a certain sense a poverty of all, also of the richest. Old age is written, with even greater probability, in the future of each one of us. We will also be elderly. One of the more reasonable motivations in order not to marginalise them is to learn as a young person to know old age in simple ways and without fear.

Genova - Italy

In the life of many young people who have become closer to the elderly, solidarity has become a dimension of living. It is the affirmation of a fraternity that is often denied, and which is needed by all, young or old. The culture of solidarity is also a way of opposing competitiveness as the only value. The elderly can give witness to those who are younger that one, can always be happy, in every stage and condition of life and they represent a hope for all.