First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly: Homily of Pope Francis

More than 2,000 people attended a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican this Sunday, July 25, on the occasion of the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which will be celebrated every year on the fourth Sunday in July, in the vicinity of the feast of saints Joaquin and Ana, the grandparents of Jesus.

The theme of this first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly was “I am with you every day” and for the occasion Pope Francis wrote a message and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has prepared a prayer.

In the name of the Holy Father, the Mass was presided over by the President of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, Mgr Rino Fisichella, who read the homily prepared by Pope Francis.

Here is the full text of Pope Francis’ homily delivered by Bishop Fisichella:

As he sat teaching, “when he looked up, Jesus saw that a great crowd was coming to him, and he asked Philip, ‘Where will we buy bread for these people to eat?’Jn 6.5). Jesus does not limit himself to teaching, but lets himself be questioned by the hunger that inhabits people’s lives. And so he feeds the crowd by distributing the five barley loaves and the two fish that a boy offered him. Finally, since he had quite a few pieces of bread left, he told his people to pick them up, “so that nothing is lost” (v. 12).

On this Day dedicated to grandparents and the elderly, I would like to stop precisely at these three moments: Jesus who sees the hunger of the crowd; Jesus sharing the bread; Jesus ordering to pick up the remaining pieces. Three moments that can be summed up in three verbs: see, share, keep.

To look at. The evangelist John, at the beginning of the story, points out this: Jesus looks up and sees the hungry crowd after having traveled a long way to meet him. Thus begins the miracle, with the gaze of Jesus, who is neither indifferent nor busy, but warns of the spasms of hunger that torment tired humanity. He takes care of us, takes care of us, wants to satisfy our hunger for life, love and happiness. In the eyes of Jesus, we discover the gaze of God: an attentive gaze, which scrutinizes the aspirations that we carry in our hearts, which sees the fatigue, the weariness and the hope with which we move forward. A look that knows how to capture everyone’s needs. In the eyes of God there is no anonymous crowd, but each with his hunger. Jesus has a contemplative gaze, that is to say, able to stop in front of the life of the other and to decipher it.

It is also the look with which grandparents and elders saw our lives. This is the way they, from our childhood, have taken care of us. Having often led a very sacrificial life, they did not treat us indifferently or ignore us, but had an attentive look, full of tenderness. When we were growing up and feeling misunderstood or afraid of life’s challenges, they noticed us, what was changing in our hearts, our hidden tears and the dreams we carried with us. We all went through the knees of our grandparents, who carried us in their arms. And it is also thanks to this love that we have become adults.

And U.S, How do we look at grandparents and elders? When was the last time we kept company or called an Elder to express our closeness and let their words bless us? I suffer when I see a society that turns, occupied and indifferent, occupied by so many things and unable to stop to direct a glance, a greeting, a caress. I am afraid of a society in which we are all an anonymous crowd and unable to look up and recognize each other. The grandparents, who nourished our life, are today hungry for us, our attention, our tenderness, to feel close to us. Let’s look at them, as Jesus does with us.

To share. After seeing the hunger of these people, Jesus wants to satisfy them. And he does this thanks to the gift of a young boy, who offers his five loaves of bread and the two fish. It is very beautiful that a boy, a young man, who shares what he has, is at the center of this wonder that so many adults have benefited from – some five thousand people.

Today we need a new alliance between young and old, to share the common treasure of life, to dream together, to overcome conflicts between generations to prepare for the future of all. Without this alliance of life, dreams and future, we risk starving to death, as broken bonds, loneliness, selfishness and disruptive forces increase. Often in our societies we have given our life to the idea that “everyone takes care of him”. But it kills.

The Gospel urges us to share who we are and what we have, that is the only way to be satisfied. I have several times remembered what the prophet Joel said on this subject (cf. Jl 3.1): Young and old together. Young people, prophets of the future who do not forget the history from which they came; the old dreamers never tired who transmit the experience to the young, without standing in their way. Young and old, the treasure of tradition and the freshness of the Spirit. Young and old together. In society and in the Church: together.

To keep. After everyone had eaten, the gospel says that there were many pieces of bread left. Before that, Jesus gives a hint: “Gather the pieces that remain, so that nothing is lost” (Jn 6.12). This is how the heart of God is, not only does it give us much more than we need, but it also cares that nothing is wasted, not even a fragment. A small piece of bread may seem like a small thing, but in the sight of God nothing should be excluded. It is a prophetic invitation that today we are called to resonate in ourselves and in the world: collect, store with care, save.

Grandparents and the elderly are not scraps of life, rubbish that must be thrown away. It is these precious pieces of bread which have remained on the table of our life, which can still nourish us with a perfume that we have lost, “the perfume of memory”. Let us not lose the memory that the elderly bear, for we are the children of this story, and without roots we will wither away. They have kept us throughout the stages of our growth, it is now our turn to keep their life, to alleviate their difficulties, to be attentive to their needs, to create the conditions so that their daily tasks are facilitated. and that they don’t feel alone.

We ask ourselves, “Did I visit the grandparents?” To the elders of the family or my neighborhood? Did I hear them? Did I spend a little time on it? Let’s keep them so that nothing is lost. Nothing about his life or his dreams. It is up to us today not to regret tomorrow for not having paid enough attention to those who loved us and gave us life.

Brothers and sisters, grandparents and the elderly are the bread that nourishes our lives. Let us be grateful for their attentive eyes, that they fixed on us, their knees, for cradling us, for their hands, for accompanying us and for lifting us, for having played with us and for the caresses which they comforted us. . Please don’t forget them. Would we go with them. Let’s learn to stop, to recognize them, to listen to them. Never throw them away. Let’s keep them with love. And let’s learn to share time with them. We will do better. And, together, young and old, we will be satisfied at the sharing table, blessed by God.