If We can Do It, So Can You!

I just came in from a wedding mass which I celebrated for a young couple to start them off on their journey of matrimonial life together. How far they go with that would be totally up to them and the prayers and best wishes of their familes, relatives and friends. It is also the generous and guiding hand of of God that leads them on, every time this couple open their hearts and lives to Him.

At the other spectrum of life, I also saw how an elderly couple saw to each others' needs and partnership that, nowadays, would seem rather amazing. I am now making my rounds to give the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick tot he housebound and those unable to attend the Mass for the Sick and Aged coming up in our parish on 15th October. I visited this elderly couple whose husband is having Parkinson's and unable to move or talk, though he is conscious of what is going on before him.

The wife is constanly at his side and lovingly watches over him as she and the maid in attendant look to his physical and bodily needs. She dotes on him like a mother on a child, though she doesn't get any immediate reaction like one would when someone is speaking or interacting to a person. But she knows his appreciation and senses his gratitude and love. The whole caring and 24-hour watch over this man can be a toll on any caregiver but for his wife, it is simply an act of love that has been present since they vowed to remain together for the rest of their lives many, many years ago.

It is an act of faith that renews my hopes for the newly married couple today as they face their new life together as husband and wife. It is an act of faith that gives strength to carry on despite the many broken marriages that are present in our lives which scar the scene. It is an act of faith that says, "If we can do it, so can you!"