The Caring and the Giving

Lectio Divina Out Loud: Erika Dix ponders her current phase of life: caring for her aging parents and remembering what they have meant to her. 

“Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise, “that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.” (Ephesians 6:2-3)

My husband and I are in an interesting season of life right now. We have two kids attending college, one at home and one away at school. We have three sets of aging parents (my parents are divorced and have new relationships), and all six of them live within 15 minutes of us. I feel like we are on call all the time for everyone with so many different needs.

This season is interesting because while there is so much caring going on, there is also so much giving. The old saying goes, “God only gives us what we can handle,” and I totally agree if you also factor in the grace He gives as well.

Honor Your Parents

My parents have given me and my family so much over the years, and I have so many reasons to honor them. They were there for us at our wedding: My mother made my wedding dress, and my mother-in-law helped with the bridesmaid outfits and flowers. My father and stepmother helped us to have the wedding of our (well, mostly my) dreams with a beautiful reception hall and an amazing jazz band. They were there for us at the beginning of our family, helping me when I was on bed rest and through my children’s births, and then subsequent diagnoses.

They have come to just about every band and orchestra concert, awards nights, grandparent breakfasts, graduations and birthday parties. They have fed and watered our plants and pets, helped us fix up and build not just one, but two homes, and kept us sane with dinners and hugs during our most difficult trials.

A Promise

As I am saying all this, I am filled with so much gratitude for all they have been giving, and I did not even get a chance to mention how they were there for my husband and me when they raised us to adulthood. I hope and pray that if you are reading this, you have had a similar experience, and if not with parents, but with other significant adults in your life.

God gives us this as a promise: that when we honor the parents He has given us, it will go well with us. I can count on the fact that I will be able to handle my parents’ aging. Now it is my turn to care for them with such enthusiasm and kindness, fixing what needs fixing and being there for them in whatever aspect they need.

Long Life

Am I looking for a long life here? I am not sure, but I know I want to spend it with the Lord by my side, feeling His grace during this season of caring and giving. I found this prayer written by Saint John Paul II, and it does well to express the first commandment with a promise. Honoring those who have lived their lives and have raised us is a giving way to live my own life. There is hope and gratitude for my parents as they age, and praying for them is a way of honoring all they have done for me and my family.

Prayer:

Prayer of the Elderly, Pope Saint John Paul II

Grant, O Lord of life,
That we may savor every season of our lives as a gift
filled with promise for the future.
Grant that we may lovingly accept your will,
and place ourselves each day in your merciful hands.
And when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes,
grant that we may face it with serenity,
without regret for what we shall leave behind.
For in meeting you,
after having sought you for so long,
we shall find once more every authentic good
which we have known here on earth,
in the company of all who have gone before us
marked with the sign of faith and hope.
Mary, Mother of pilgrim humanity,
pray for us “now and at the hour of our death.”
Keep us ever close to Jesus,
your beloved Son and our brother,
the Lord of life and glory. Amen! (USCCB.org)

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Copyright 2026 Erika Dix
Images: Canva