JOYFUL GOSPEL LIVING
“We know that all things work for good for those who love God…”
This weekend, the Church celebrates the 6th World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, inspired by the feast day of Saints Joachim and Anna, the grandparents of Jesus (July 26th). What a great opportunity this is to cherish the faith traditions that our grandparents passed on to their families!
Until I left home at age 22 for my first USAF assignment, I had the blessing of sharing life with my paternal grandparents (#10 of their 16 grandchildren). They lived around the block from us, so it was very easy to make a daily visit to them. There was always a special treat waiting at the house for us, like cooked chocolate pudding with real whipped cream. 😊
As Polish immigrants, my grandparents brought their strong faith heritage with them as they settled into a new community at age 17, married each other at age 20, and raised a family of nine children. In their daily prayer life and their ministry to others through the Altar-Rosary and Holy Name Societies, they embodied what St. Paul shared with the Romans: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”
Every year, my grandparents made a special visit to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, PA, for the celebration of the feast of St. Anne. Because they did not drive, my Dad would take all of us to this special place. All of the grandchildren could see our grandparents’ great love of God through the stories that they told us and the traditions that they shared.
When the late Pope Francis introduced this new celebration for the Church, it made me so happy to read about how greatly his own spiritual life was influenced by both his maternal and paternal grandparents. Their lives had been marked by many challenges, especially by World War I and then being immigrants from Italy in Argentina.
When my grandmother would tell us stories from the Bible, she always asked us to close our eyes and imagine that we were there. Her favorite stories were about the Holy Family. When we took time to imagine like that, I wondered if Jesus knew the same love of His grandparents that I had with mine: kind, loving, attentive, wise, generous, and joyful. What did Jesus learn from Sts. Joachim and Anna?
Art by Br. Mickey McGrath, OSFS
(“Jesus Has a Sleepover with His Grandparents”)
In his Message for the 6th World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Leo XIV chose to reflect on Isaiah 49:15: “I will not forget you.” For many generations, those words from Scripture have offered hope and comfort, especially to those who may have felt abandoned by others. The Holy Father wrote:
“The celebration of the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly is an opportunity to rediscover that the Church is called to be a mother to all and that at any age it is always possible to recognize ourselves as sons and daughters of God. May this day, therefore, be an inspiration for everyone, especially the young, to revive the beautiful custom of visiting their grandparents, the elderly members of the family and even those who have no one to visit them. Bring them, through this message and your presence, the closeness and affection of the Pope. Ensure that the words of the prophet, ‘But I will never forget you,’ take the form of a tender and affectionate encounter.”
In our daily living, we may find many challenges to overcome with family members, our employment, our community living, and national/international events. Do we believe that “all things work for good for those who love God”? It requires faith and trust. Like this weekend’s Gospel reading, we have to appreciate the presence of the Kingdom of heaven and its value to us relative to the others things in our lives. What have we learned from the elderly about those values? How shall we thank them?
When Jeff and I visited Vietnam and Cambodia in January, we had daily excursions with young adult tour guides who shared their country’s culture and history with us. A consistent value that they shared was the role of grandparents in their lives and how many households had elderly family members living with them. One of our tour guides told us that because both of his parents were supportive of the South Vietnamese government during the war, they were executed, and he and his siblings were raised by their grandparents from a young age. He spoke of their courage and fidelity with such tenderness and respect, admitting that it was now his responsibility to pass on those values to his own children.
In cultures that have a great respect for the elderly, there is a shared honor paid to the wisdom of their years, formed by virtues, integrity, and fidelity. In the first reading, God appeared to Solomon when he was still a young man facing a challenging future. In a dream, God told him that He would give Solomon anything that he asked. The king’s answer greatly pleased God, who told him: “I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.”
This weekend’s celebration of grandparents and the elderly gives us an opportunity to pay attention to those who may be lonely or in fragile states. They have so much to teach us, as we draw hope through shared encounters that God will not forget us. Solomon teaches us the petition that leads to wisdom:
“Give Your servant then an understanding heart.”
Teresa S. Redder, OFS
Saint Katharine Drexel Regional Minister
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