"Talking to the elderly helps us learn faithfulness, piety or tenderness.""In old age do not forsake me" (Ps 71:9). This will be the heart of the IV World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, chosen by Pope Francis for the celebration, which this year will fall on July 28. A communiqué from the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life highlights how loneliness is a bitter companion in the lives of many elderly people, often victims of a culture that considers them superfluous. In preparation for the Jubilee, with the entire year 2024 dedicated to prayer, the theme of the Day is inspired by Psalm 71, the hymn of an elderly man reflecting on his long friendship with God.
As always, for the past four years, the Day aims to highlight the gift to the Church and society of grandparents and the elderly, underlining their contribution to community life. The aim is to promote the commitment of every ecclesial reality in building generational bridges and counteracting loneliness, aware that, as Scripture says, "it is not good for man to be alone" (Gen 2:18).
In a note, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, underscored the widespread reality of loneliness among the elderly, often marginalized by society.
For this reason, he invited families and ecclesial communities to promote a culture of encounter, creating spaces for sharing and listening in order to offer support and affection and to build together a broader "we" in ecclesial communion, embracing all generations.
This familiarity, rooted in God's love, is the key to overcoming the culture of discarding and loneliness. Therefore, communities are called to manifest the love of God, who abandons no one.
Previous workshops
As you will recall, the first World Day of Grandparents and Older Persons took place in 2021, when the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic were still fresh. That year the theme was: "I am with you always" (Mt 28:20) and the Pope addressed the elderly, stressing the importance of the Lord's presence in their lives and the Church's affection for them. He encouraged them to find comfort in faith and in reading the Scriptures, despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic.
The following year, the theme was "In old age you will still bear fruit" (Ps 92:15), emphasizing how old age is not a useless time, but a season in which to continue to be a protagonist, starting from the "revolution of tenderness" that must be poured out in a world that has lost the taste for it.
Last year, finally, we reflected on the passage from Luke 1:50 "From generation to generation his mercy", privileging the aspect of the intergenerational bond, with a clear reference to the encounter between the young Mary and her elderly relative Elizabeth. In the message there was a clear invitation to young people to honor their elders and to take care of the memory through mutual relationship, an aspect that Pope Francis has always stressed in his Magisterium.
