RMG, 10 March 2021 -- A veteran is a person who had long experience in a particular occupation or field. So we not only have war veterans but veteran missionaries as well.

A missionary can do a lot of things, launch initiatives, recruit local vocations, etc which all give him a sense of usefulness in the missions. But as he grows older, he is gradually drawn to the backstage. This could certainly lead him to ask: Am I still useful here? Could I be useful somewhere else?

The veteran missionary’s years of experience has widened his worldview. Having learnt how to live on less and aware of the blessings he has received in life, he is more focused on serving God and others so that they too may experience the same blessings.

Because of his age, people are willing to come to listen to him. Since his pace of life and productivity has slowed down, a veteran missionary has more time to reflect upon his life and pray for people and their intentions. His missionary work now is very much less about ‘doing’, but a lot more about ‘being’.

Psychology tells us that adults who hold to their values and beliefs, and who act upon them, have a greater impact on the younger generations. Perhaps the veteran missionary does not realise it but the missionary work he has started, and the local vocations he has nourished need him now more than ever. Not anymore as a protagonist, but as companion, wise elder, and friend who is always ready to listen, always ready to give ‘a word in the ear’ to the local younger Salesians, who were once his students but are now his superiors.

Confreres too can help our veteran missionaries not to focus on what “would have,” “should have,” and “could have” been and overcome bitterness, depression, and despair, so that they can look back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness and also accept death without fear.

Indeed, we need veteran missionaries (and senior confreres). They need us too. Let us pray for them and cherish their presence among us!