Many of us fear aging with all the trouble it brings. The older we get, the worse we get physically. Our bodies keep ticking away in inevitable decline in spite of daily workouts, vitamins, organic food. Let’s face it . . . the decades that follow our twenties and thirties can no longer ensure long lasting physical health . . . our eyesight starts to go, then the knees, then the mind . . .
But believe it or not, it is possible to get better with age. While it is true that the older we get the worse we get physically, it doesn’t have to be that way spiritually. In 2 Corinthians 4:16, St. Paul tells us that “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”
When we are gradually stripped of everything that props us up . . . wealth, independence, health, dignity, beauty, power, authority, control, self-esteem or all of the above . . . we are left more and more to rely on the power the Spirit within . . . the Spirit of Jesus who dwells in us . . .
We are happy to announce that in our Parish, there is a fraternity that gathers brothers and sisters no matter their age to understand a deeper meaning and purpose of life. The Secular Franciscans of our Parish spend time in God’s Word and invest in their spiritual well-being . . . Just recently, on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, June 13, five Candidates who have undergone a series of Formation were admitted as Professed Members: Rowena Fierro, Maxie Sindiong Martinez, Dolly Mejilla, Helena Joy Pabalate and Gerry Reyes. They see the payoffs of time well spent . . . then . . . now . . . and later.
The lay Franciscans realize that although our outward shell decays, renewal come each day. Commitment to God’s Word and prayer give strength that does not fade away. The older we get . . . the better we can become . . .
Santuario de San Antonio Parish 