“Honor thy father and mother” is a solemn commitment. It is not just about one’s own father and mother. It is about their generation and the generations before, honoring the elderly.

Pope Francis has asked several families to write the prayers and meditations for his Stations of the Cross service at Rome’s Colosseum on Good Friday.

Even though old age can weaken the body, Pope Francis said, it can also sharpen a person’s connection to God.

“Does the transmission of faith—and of the meaning of life—follow this path today, of listening to the elderly?” Pope Francis asked in his general audience.

The elderly “will be the ones to sound the alarm, the alert: ‘Be aware, this is corruption, it will bring you nothing,’” Pope Francis said during his general audience on March 16.

But don't make a big show of it either. There is a fine line between being a witness and being a weirdo.