Should I tell you the truth? Well, I assume you would want to hear it. The truth is that I never intended putting up anything on this blog today. I was rather researching on the concept of ‘discernment’ when I stumbled on the paragraph below. The paragraph is an excerpt from Pope Francis’ opening address at the Synod of Bishops on Young People titled ‘The Faith and Vocational Discernment.’ I find the piece very interesting for both young and old people all over the world, irrespective of creed, colour or religious belonging. I think it is an instruction that we need in our struggle to respond to the sociological breakdown of the communication between the old and the young. And this has a lot of implications for the way we build our families, our societies, our churches, our workplaces, and so on. So, here is what Francis has to say:

“Let us leave behind prejudice and stereotypes. A first step towards listening is to free our minds and our hearts from prejudice and stereotypes. When we think we already know who others are and what they want, we really struggle to listen to them seriously. Relations across generations are a terrain in which prejudice and stereotypes take root with proverbial ease, so much so that we are often oblivious to it. Young people are tempted to consider adults outdated; adults are tempted to regard young people as inexperienced, to know how they are and especially how they should be and behave. All of this can be an overwhelming obstacle to dialogue and to the encounter between generations. Most of those present do not belong to a younger generation, so it is clear that we must pay attention, above all, to the risk of talking about young people in categories and ways of thinking that are already outmoded. If we can avoid this risk, then we will help to bridge generations. Adults should overcome the temptation to underestimate the abilities of young people and not judge them negatively. I once read that the first mention of this fact dates back to 3000 BC and was discovered on a clay pot in ancient Babylon, where it is written that young people are immoral and incapable of saving their people’s culture. This is an old tradition of us old ones! Young people, on the other hand, should overcome the temptation to ignore adults and to consider the elderly “archaic, outdated and boring”, forgetting that it is foolish always to start from scratch as if life began only with each of them. Despite their physical frailty, the elderly are always the memory of mankind, the roots of our society, the “pulse” of our civilization. To spurn them, reject them, isolate or snub them is to yield to a worldly mentality that is devouring our homes from within. To neglect the rich experiences that each generation inherits and transmits to the next is an act of self-destruction.” (http://www.synod.va/content/synod2018/en/news/address-by-pope-francis-at-the-opening-of-the-synod-of-bishops-.html)

I wish to add nothing, but to ask for your reactions and comments. Let us begin the conversation please. And don’t forget to hit the ‘follow’ button for updates!