SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF YEAR C
24th July 2022

Dear Friends,

"In old age they will still bear fruit" (Ps 92:15). These words of the Psalmist are glad tidings, a true "gospel" that we can proclaim to all on this second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Many people are afraid of old age. They consider it a sort of disease with which any contact is best avoided. The elderly, they think, are none of their concern and should be set apart, perhaps in homes or places where they can be cared for, lest we have to deal with their problems. This is the mind-set of the "throw-away culture", which leads us to think that we are somehow different from the poor and vulnerable in our midst, untouched by their frailties and separated from "them" and their troubles. Old age is not a time of life easily understood even by those of us who are already experiencing it. On the one hand, we are tempted to ward off old age by hiding our wrinkles and pretending to be forever young, while on the other, we imagine that the only thing we can do is bide our time, thinking glumly that we cannot "still bring forth fruit". The fast pace of the world - with which we struggle to keep up - seems to leave us no alternative but to implicitly accept the idea that we are useless. We can resonate with the heartfelt prayer of the Psalmist: "Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent" (71:9). Yet that same psalm - which meditates on how the Lord has been present at every stage of our lives - urges us to persevere in hope.

We will come to see that growing old is more than the natural decline of the body or the inevitable passage of time, but the gift of a long life. Aging is a blessing! For this reason, we ought to take care of ourselves and remain active in our later years. This is also true from a spiritual standpoint: we ought to cultivate our interior life through the assiduous reading of the word of God, daily prayer, reception of the sacraments and participation in the liturgy. In addition to our relationship with God, we should also cultivate our relationships with others: first of all by showing affectionate concern for our families, our children and grandchildren, but also for the poor and those who suffer, by drawing near to them with practical assistance and our prayers. Like "green olive trees in the house of God" (cf. Ps 52:10), we can become a blessing for those who live next to us. Our world is passing through a time of trial and testing, beginning with the sudden, violent 2 outbreak of the pandemic, and then by a war that is harming peace and development on a global scale. Nor is it a coincidence that war is returning to Europe at a time when the generation that experienced it in the last century is dying out. We grandparents and elderly people have a great responsibility: to teach the women and men of our time to regard others with the same understanding and loving gaze with which we regard our own grandchildren.

One fruit that we are called to bring forth is protecting the world. "Our grandparents held us in their arms and carried us on their knees"; now is the time for us to carry on our own knees - with practical assistance or with prayer alone - not only our own grandchildren but also the many frightened grandchildren whom we have not yet met and who may be fleeing from war or suffering its effects. Let us hold in our hearts - like Saint Joseph, who was a loving and attentive father - the little ones of Ukraine, of Afghanistan, of South Sudan… Many of us have come to a wise and humble realization of what our world very much needs: the recognition that we are not saved alone, and that happiness is a bread we break together. The very fact that we allow ourselves to be cared for - often by people who come from other countries - is itself a way of saying that living together in peace is not only possible, but necessary. Dear grandparents, dear elderly persons, let us make ever more frequent and better use of the most valuable instrument at our disposal: prayer. "Let us too become, as it were, poets of prayer: let us develop a taste for finding our own words, let us once again take up those taught by the word of God." Our trustful prayer can do a great deal. The World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly is an opportunity to proclaim once more, with joy, - in the words of the Bible - has "filled with days". Let us make sure that no one feels alone on this day. Let us ask Our Lady, Mother of Tender Love, to make all of us artisans of the revolution of tenderness, so that together we can set the world free from the spectre of loneliness and the demon of war. To all of you, and to your loved ones, I send my blessing and the assurance of my closeness and affection. And I ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me!

Pope Francis

Notices:
Please remember to pray for:

Daily for the sick clergy of our Diocese

The sick and housebound

Those who have recently died

Years Mind:
Monday: Frs John Broadman Jones, Michael Hannan, Dermot Moore, James Cooney
Thursday: Fr John Harding
Sunday: Fr Michael O'Sullivan