March 17

I will never forget the experience I had in visiting a hoe where they kept all the old parents of sons and daughters who had put them into an institution and perhaps forgotten them. These old people had everything - good food, comfortable place, television, everything, but everyone was looking towards the door. And I did not see a single one with a smile on the face. I turned to Sister and asked: "Why are they not smiling?" I am so used to seeing the smile on our people, even the dying ones smile. And Sister said; "This is the way it is nearly every day. They are expecting, they are hoping that a son or daughter will come to visit them." It is this neglect to love that brings spiritual poverty.