Bishop Malzaire delivering his speech
As usual, the REACH Poor Persons Dinner was held during the Lenten season on Saturday March 23rd, 2011. The dinner started with an opening prayer led by His Lordship Bishop Gabriel Malzaire. It was indeed well attended and the beautiful, colourful decorations of the hall generated a warm, peaceful and joyful addition to the ambiance.
The guests were entertained with exquisite renditions from the notorious Mrs. Ophelia Marie and our own Board Member, Dr. William Green with his recitation of repertoire from William Shakespeare and last but not least, Brother Bosco Wakeham who with his usual witty jokes had the audience in a steady uproar of laughter.
In his featured address, His Lordship Bishop Gabriel Malzaire highlighted the means and ways in which we as a society (both young and middle aged) can reach out to the older persons based on the theme “Bridging the Gap: The Social Effects of Segregation.” The following is an extract from his speech:
“Bridging the Gap: The Social Effect of Segregation,” presumes that all is not well with our society, or any human society for that matter. It admits that there are splits and cracks in human relationship and interaction by virtue of our very existence. The ‘generation gap’ describes the chasm that exists between older folks and the young. That involves the difference in the attitude, priorities and world views among generations.
The entire purpose of technological advancement is to improve the quality of life of people as a whole. But whose life is being improved? Or is life really improving with technology? Or are certain means of social communication causes of more lack of communication between the generations?
The young become poorer and poorer at one-to-one conversation and more comfortable being spoken to by gadgets and the screen than by people. Ironically, children and older persons are the two extreme ends of the generation spectrum. How we treat them says a great deal about how we value human life and how we value their presence in our midst; whether we see them as assets to our development or liabilities to be set aside or discarded.
This gap has always been enormous, only that the circumstances in our modern world seem poised to make it widen. Certainly a greater openness to our youth and their needs, and a greater measure or patience with and respect for our older persons can go a long way in bridging the gap and alleviating the unnecessary feeling of segregation.
