The Precious Gift of Old Age

The fear of growing old is a universal burden. Here's the book you need to ensure that you move into and through old age with grit and grace. Fr. John LaFarge shows you how to conquer any fear of aging — and how to make your golden years the best years of your life. 

At age 84, Fr. LaFarge was struck by the many advantages and blessings of aging, and he observed that modern men and women have lost touch with the traditional view of old age as the crowning summit of life. Seeing old age instead as a calamity, he says, is what makes aging such a misery for many. 

In these insightful and encouraging pages, Fr. John helps you recognize that old age has its own inherent meaning and that the wisest thing we can do when it creeps up on us is to explore this meaning and adopt a general plan of action to profit from it. 

Specifically, you will learn how to overcome loneliness and assist others who are suffering from the pains of poverty or neglect. Fr. LaFarge addresses the challenges of caring for elderly people who are too sick to live at home and require admission to nursing homes. He also clarifies the duties of the younger generations toward those in old age and how it is incumbent upon them to turn the tide of our utilitarian culture of death.

Best of all, Fr. LaFarge affirms that old age affords more time for quiet communion with our Lord, for contemplation, and for reaching out to others to help provide for their spiritual needs. He imparts the invaluable lesson that to embrace old age is to value the opportunity to strengthen yourself on the road to eternity after a lifetime of sin. You will also discover: 

• New opportunities, dignities, and privileges that come with old age

• How old age is a time of great strength, beauty, and resurrection

• An attitude of thankfulness and joy that attracts others to the Faith

• How the “greatest social power in the world” rests in old age

• What the older and younger generations can teach each other

• How practicing the four cardinal virtues in our senior years leads to an authentic love of God and neighbor

By John LaFarge, SJ

Paperback; 128 pages.