“I would invite you to make a concrete gesture that would include grandparents and the elderly. Let us not abandon them. Their presence in families and communities is a precious one, for it reminds us that we share the same heritage and are part of a people committed to preserving its roots. From the elderly, we received the gift of belonging to God’s holy people. The Church, as well as society, needs them, for they entrust to the present the past that is needed to build the future. Let us honour them, neither depriving ourselves of their company nor depriving them of ours. May we never allow the elderly to be cast aside!” This is an excerpt of His Holiness, Pope Francis message for the Third World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, slated to be celebrated on July 23, 2023.
The 86 year-old Pope instituted the Day in 2021, to be held annually on the fourth Sunday in July, close to the feast of Jesus’ grandparents, Saints Joachim and Anne, Grandparents of Jesus. Tagged, “His Mercy is from age to age” coined from Luke 1: 50, His Holiness implored everyone to honour grandparents and the elderly as well as make their special day a joyous encounter between the young and old.. Joyful and renewed encounter between young and old “The World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is meant to be a small but precious sign of hope for them and for the whole Church. I renew my invitation to everyone – dioceses, parishes, associations and communities – to celebrate this Day and to make it the occasion of a joyful and renewed encounter between young and old.”
The Holy Father tasked the youths, “To you, the young who are preparing to meet in Lisbon or to celebrate World Youth Day in your own countries, I would ask: before you set out on your journey, visit your grandparents or an elderly person who lives alone! Their prayers will protect you and you will carry in your heart the blessing of that encounter. To the elderly, he said, “I ask you, the elderly among us, to accompany by your prayers the young people about to celebrate World Youth Day. Those young people are God’s answer to your prayers, the fruits of all that you have sown, the sign that God does not abandon his people, but always rejuvenates them with the creativity of the Holy Spirit.” Observing that the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is holding close to World Youth Day this year, he noted that both celebrations remind us of the “haste” with which Mary set out to visit Elizabeth.
The Holy Pontiff explained, “In this way, they invite us to reflect on the bond that unites young and old. The Lord trusts that young people, through their relationships with the elderly, will realise that they are called to cultivate memory and recognise the beauty of being part of a much larger history. “Friendship with an older person can help the young to see life not only in terms of the present and realise that not everything depends on them and their abilities. For the elderly, the presence of a young person in their lives can give them hope that their experience will not be lost and that their dreams can find fulfillment. “Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and their shared awareness that the Lord’s mercy is from generation to generation reminds us that, alone, we cannot move forward, much less save ourselves, and that God’s presence and activity are always part of something greater, the history of a people. Mary herself said this in the Magnificat, as she rejoiced in God, who, in fidelity to the promise he had made to Abraham, had worked new and unexpected wonders.”
Hopes, dreams achieved through a process of growth, maturation The Pope’s message further read in parts, “To better appreciate God’s way of acting, let us remember that our life is meant to be lived to the full, and that our greatest hopes and dreams are not achieved instantly but through a process of growth and maturation, in dialogue and in relationship with others. For the young; for the elderly “Those who focus only on the here and now, on money and possessions, on “having it all now”, are blind to the way God works. His loving plan spans past, present and future; it embraces and connects the generations. It is greater than we are, yet includes each of us and calls us at every moment to keep pressing forward. “For the young, this means being ready to break free from the fleeting present in which virtual reality can entrap us, preventing us from doing something productive. “
For the elderly, it means not dwelling on the loss of physical strength and thinking with regret about missed opportunities. Let us all look ahead! And allow ourselves to be shaped by God’s grace, which from generation to generation frees us from inertia and from dwelling on the past!” The meeting between Mary and Elizabeth “In the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, between young and old, God points us towards the future that he is opening up before us. Indeed, Mary’s visit and Elizabeth’s greeting open our eyes to the dawn of salvation: in their embrace, God’s mercy quietly breaks into human history, amid abundant joy.
I encourage everyone to reflect on that meeting, to picture, like a snapshot, that embrace between the young Mother of God and the elderly mother of Saint John the Baptist, and to frame it in their minds and hearts as a radiant icon.” World Day of Grandparents and Elderly The essence of the World Day of Grandparents and Elderly is to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, help children become aware of strength, information and guidance older people can offer.
