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“To Walk the Future, the Past is Needed.” – Pope Francis
Rome: In an launch that was stream live, Pope Francis on Tuesday released a masterpiece of a book titled, Sharing the Wisdom of Time, in Rome on Tuesday.
Indian human rights activist, Jesuit priest Fr. Cedric Prakash, SJ who now handles advocacy and communications at Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Rue de L’Universitie Saint-Joseph in Beirut – Lebanon, contributed to this book on the message of love. Sharing the Wisdom of Time is a collection of stories about elders from around the world. From over 30 countries, elders share their wisdom carved from lifetimes of experience. Every story is a testament to the power of faith, perseverance, human resilience, and love. Pope Francis contributes as a fellow elder, offering the Preface and his own story in each chapter, while also reflecting on dozens of others’ stories.
The book published by Loyola Press highlights the wisdom of the elderly, their experiences and their insights to society. In the preface to the book, written by Pope Francis, he calls for an alliance between the young and the old to help counter the culture of waste. The stories are organized in five thematic chapters: work, struggle, love, death and hope, and each chapter begins with the Pope reflecting on each theme.
Fr. Cedric Prakash who writes regularly for Indian Catholic Matters felt honoured and said, “It is indeed a great privilege for me to be a contributor to this very inspirational book. Besides, I feel greatly honoured that Pope Francis has responded in the book with a personal message to my sharing.”
In the book Sharing the Wisdom of Time, Pope Francis says, “The other day I was writing a document. Somebody was standing by my side and spilled his whole cup of coffee on it. I had done a lot of work. I had made all my markings. And it was all blotched. At first, I did not know how to react. But now he will never forget the way I decided to react. I just asked him, ‘Shall I make you another cup of coffee?’
“These are small, simple, daily things by which we can make a person’s day or break a person. If I’m experiencing God’s mercy for my sins, how do I communicate this mercy—this unconditional love—to the people around me? By being present with them, by listening, by holding a hand, by a touch? I am trying to do it in the small, ordinary things of daily life. It’s not about the extraordinary.
“When the Lord’s mercy touches me, it influences my attitude and behavior. I become a spark, a way of proceeding. I become a new approach. That is mercy to me. It’s not just ‘Don’t worry about what you’ve done. I forgive you.’ Mercy is not lip service. Mercy is about a tangible, living, vibrant act that forever grows, that deepens.”
Image courtesy: Sharing the wisdom of Time
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