Retirement can be a “time to leave a good legacy of wisdom, tenderness, and gifts for the family and the community, ” said Pope Francis advised how to lead a fruitful retirement life.
“When we think of an inheritance, at times we think of goods, and not of the goodness that is done in old age, and that has been sown. That goodness is the best legacy we can leave,” the Holy Father said in St. Peter’s Square.
The Pope commented that true heroism was not only found in great events of history but also in the “love poured out in a difficult family and on behalf of a threatened community.”
Pope Francis highlighted the biblical example of Judith, whom he praised for her heroism and her faith.
The Book of Judith in the Old Testament relates how Judith saved the city of Bethulia by cutting off the head of the Assyrian general Holofernes, who was besieging the city.
“After her great adventure, Judith returned to live in her town, Bethulia, where she lived her old age beautifully until she was 105,” the pope noted.
In her “retirement,” Judith continued to provide a heroic example by dedicating her time to her family and her community, as well as through charitable works, like that of granting “freedom to her favorite handmaid,” the pope said.