Celebrating the gift of grandparents and the elderly
By Wendy Shaw
Tasmanian parishes joined Catholic communities around the world to celebrate the fourth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.
It was marked on Sunday, 28 July 2024, the Sunday closest to the Feast of St Joachim and St Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.
Parish priest Fr Leonard Caldera gave a special welcome to grandparents and elders at the Church of the Apostles in Launceston, in celebration and acknowledgement of their love, commitment and care to families and the parish, and their role and vocation in passing on their faith to the next generations.
“Today all throughout the Catholic Church, Catholic communities gather to celebrate, to honour and to pray for our grandparents and elders who have been instrumental in our faith journeys,” Fr Leonard said.
“Therefore, let us join in heart and mind as we thank and praise God for the gift of grandparents and elders.”
Later in the Mass, about 20 grandparents, elders, great aunts and uncles accepted Fr Leonard’s invitation to stand near the steps of the altar for a special prayer and blessing.
“We now pray for our grandparents and elders, as they pass on the rich traditions of faith to the next generation, especially the young grandchildren. Bless them oh Lord, your choicest blessings,” Fr Leonard said.
“Grant that they may have the loving support of their family, of friends and relatives, that in good health they may be cheerful, and in poor health they may not lose hope; in their loneliness that your love would give them comfort.
“Sustained by the help of your blessing, let them spend their old age giving praise to your name.”
Parishioner Jan Williams, a grandmother of three, welcomed the recognition of grandparents and elders.
“I thought it lovely – a wonderful touch – and a lovely thought of the priest to do it,” she said afterwards.
“It was very unexpected and people appreciate the acknowledgement. It is a lovely thing for people to feel they are recognised.”
The theme chosen for World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly this year was ‘Do not cast me off in my old age’, from Psalm 71:9.
Pope Francis began the observance in 2021, with the reminder that old age is a gift and that grandparents play a key role in transmitting faith and wisdom to the younger generations.
This year, the Pope spoke of the sad reality of the abandonment of the elderly, adding that ‘loneliness risks becoming a difficult burden to bear’.
According to a Vatican transcript, the pontiff told those gathered in St Peter’s Square after the Angelus on 28 July: “The Day calls us to listen to the voice of the elderly who say, ‘Do not abandon me!’, and to answer, ‘I will not abandon you!’.
“Let us strengthen the alliance between grandparents and grandchildren, between young people and the elderly. Let us say ‘no’ to the loneliness of the elderly.
“Our future depends a great deal on how grandparents and grandchildren learn to live together. Let us not forget the elderly. And a round of applause for all the grandparents, all of them!”