First World Day for Grandparents & Elderly July 25, 2021
The decision to hold a World Day for Grandparents and Older People has come at a time marked by a pandemic and by the suffering of our older generations in recent months in every part of the worldl. Reports of elderly people dying alone and then given a funeral, have been a cause of deep pain to the Church. It is one of the crosses at our time that was rightly brought to mind during the Way of the Cross with Pope Francis on Good Friday this year.
The theme chosen by the Holy Family, "I am with you always," expresses clearly that, during the pandemic and in the better times that will hopefully follow, every ecclesial community wishes to be with the elderly always.
The first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly is being celebrated midway through the year dedicated to family by the Holy Father. This is a deliberate choice that stems from awareness of how the elderly--all the elderly--including those who are not grandparents--need a family environment in which to live, and also how it is necessary for families to become aware of the role being played by their older members. This celebration is for all living generations. It is not a matter simply of happiness, but of joy born from the knowledge that the Lord is close to the lives of the elderly as well as the young, for God is always with us.