CENTER SECTION: MULTIGENERATIONAL MINISTRY
Engaging the Newly Retired

by Hugh Clear

Ascending Life is a worldwide Catholic organization of retired people, begun in Paris in 1960 and officially approved by the French bishops in 1962. The group consciously seeks to offset the image of later years as “life descending” into loss of health and vitality by promoting the positive aspects of aging: the growth of wisdom, insight, realism, and understanding of life’s purpose, along with a realization of God’s presence and power in human affairs. The mission of the Ascending Life seniors is threefold—spirituality, fellowship, and service.

I became involved with Ascending Life in 1994 when, as director of Parish Social Ministry for Catholic Community Services in the Archdiocese of Miami, I was asked to help organize the movement’s third international conference. By that time the organization was thoroughly international, including some 300,000 members in sixteen countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Canada. The conference at Barry University in Miami was to be its official introduction to the United States, and at the conclusion of the conference I was invited to continue as a volunteer to promote the movement and get it started in the Miami area.

When I retired from Catholic Community Services in 1997, I made this involvement my personal volunteer service to the church, seeing the need for an active role for seniors in today’s church and society. From the beginning, Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy of Miami took a keen interest in promoting Ascending Life, perhaps because he was shortly due to retire himself. In fact, on his retirement (in 1995) he became our spiritual adviser, attending the regular meetings of the organizing committee. He also was instrumental in getting a grant from the archdiocese that helped us considerably in laying the groundwork for Ascending Life. His successor, Archbishop John C. Favalora, very kindly agreed to continue a positive stance toward the group.

Subsequently Ascending Life has been established in some twenty parishes of the archdiocese (both predominantly English-speaking and Spanish-speaking), about one-sixth of Miami’s parishes. There is no paid staff or formal archdiocesan program—the work is a labor of love carried out by volunteers.
One difficulty in establishing the ministry is that almost all archdiocesan parishes already have some kind of group for seniors. Many of these groups function on a social/recreational level, which surely meets a human need. But settling for this pattern alone neglects the need for mental stimulation and spiritual nourishment, as well as the universal gospel challenge to be of service. In the program of Ascending Life each member is invited (indeed challenged) to engage in some form of Christian service. Our motto is “Seniors active in church and society.”

Once upon a time people thought wistfully of retirement as the impossible dream. Most people worked until they dropped—and that was the normal expectation in a world of limited resources and limited vision. But in the middle 1930s, with the promise of Social Security and growing national prosperity (especially after World War II) people began to see retirement at sixty-five to be a reachable goal. By the millions people came to embrace this good life, rejoicing in their emancipation from the drudgery of work. This happy release coincided with a rising level of health care and life expectancy. This opened up for active retirees the opportunity to get involved in community service. That was the golden age of senior volunteerism.

Unfortunately this happy state was too good to last. We now speak sadly of the “Social Security crisis.” The senior population has grown exponentially, soon to be joined by the baby boomers of the post-war years. We are now beginning to see a trend in seniors postponing, if not cancelling, retirement (and volunteerism). The current economic crisis is giving many people second thoughts about terminating their employment. In addition, here in Miami we find that many grandparents are now engaged in baby-sitting for their grandchildren so that both parents can contribute to the family income. Long a feature of extended Hispanic families in the area, this is now becoming a pattern among English-speaking grandparents as well. Many of these “young seniors,” who would normally be expected to embrace the threefold program of the Ascending Life movement, are providing service within their families, caring for little ones and evangelizing them by example and by teaching them to pray. The result of these trends, however, is that the current membership of Ascending Life is growing older, frailer, less able to engage in active service, and more reluctant to drive themselves to meetings.

These considerations illustrate the challenges facing Ascending Life today. One could feel discouraged that the movement has not spread more rapidly—at least here in the Archdiocese of Miami. Personally, I am encouraged by the awareness of the good things we have accomplished in the past twelve years, in spite of the unfavorable social climate. I have seen retired people come together in communities of faith and fellowship. In the varied circumstances of their lives they have also reached out to help others.

It is perhaps unwise to mention just a few names but I cannot forget Helen Stankiewicz, a retired school teacher, who has been for many years deeply involved in community organizing. She is leading her parish participation in an interfaith effort to secure better public services in low-income communities. Kathy Moroney has been involved in Switchboard, a crisis call-in service for people contemplating suicide. She also teaches religious education classes in her parish. Betty Murphy has been in Ascending Life since it came to Miami. She has been our Parish Coordinator at St. Thomas the Apostle Church and is a key member of our organizing committee. She is also very active in eucharistic ministry at South Miami Hospital. These three are indeed outstanding in the area of Christian service—and they represent many others who are devoted to the concept of faith in action.

I am reminded of Pope Benedict’s encyclical letter “God Is Love”: “The Christian’s program—the program of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus—is a heart which sees. This heart sees wherever love is needed and acts accordingly.” The blandishments of materialism and consumerism are all around us, but they cannot prevail over the peace of Christ, that “peace which the world cannot give.” We can no longer, as lay people, leave the spread of God’s kingdom to the “religious professionals.” Every layman and laywoman is summoned now to that task. Every gender and age, without exception, is now called to be active in church and society.” Ascending Life is a timely response to that challenge.

Hugh Clear is Director of Ascending Life for the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida. He can be reached at