The author reflects on the elderly in connection with the first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.
The Pope has decreed that the last Sunday in July be dedicated to the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. This Day did not exist as such, although on July 26 the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandparents of Jesus, Joachim and Anne, are remembered, and on August 27 St. Therese Journet, patron saint of the elderly, is commemorated. So this is the First Day dedicated to grandparents and the elderly.
The pandemic has particularly affected the elderly. The situations of elderly people who have died alone, for whom it has not even been possible to celebrate a funeral, have been a very painful wound for the whole Church. It is one of the crosses of our time that, not by chance, was recalled during the Stations of the Cross with the Pope on Good Friday this year: “Some men who looked like astronauts got out of the ambulance, dressed in gowns, gloves, masks and visors, and took away the grandfather who had been having difficulty breathing for a few days. That was the last time I saw Grandpa, he died a few days later in the hospital, I imagine he was also suffering from loneliness. I was not able to be physically close to him, to say goodbye and comfort him”.
Not being able to be close to those who suffer contradicts the vocation of Christians to mercy, and this Day is an occasion to reaffirm that the Church cannot remain distant from those who carry the cross. The theme chosen by the Holy Father “I am with you every day” expresses it clearly: during the pandemic and in the time that – hopefully soon – will begin after it, the whole ecclesial community wishes to be with the elderly every day.
Either “individually or as local Churches, we can do a lot for the elderly: pray for them, alleviate the disease of loneliness, activate networks of solidarity, and much more. Faced with the scenario of a generation that has been hit so hard, we are called to a common responsibility”. The annual celebration of a Day dedicated to the elderly is a way of focusing attention on the elderly, who are fragile in the usual fabric of our pastoral care. The following were proposed as practical actions:
+ Visiting grandparents and the elderly in their homes or in hospitals.
+ During the Masses on Sunday, July 25, the elderly will gain Plenary Indulgence and we will pray especially for them and for those who have already left us, naming them expressly.
The Holy Father entrusts these pillars to the elderly for the construction of the new world:
- Dreams. The prophet Joel once uttered this promise: “Their old men shall dream dreams, and their young men shall see visions” (3:1). The future of the world lies in this alliance between the young and the old. Who, if not the young, can take the elders’ dreams of justice, peace and solidarity and carry them forward?
- To remember and transmit the faith to the new generations. They are not “users” of the Church, but fellow travelers. The Holy Father asks them to be co-responsible for the path of the Church of tomorrow and for the construction of the world after the pandemic. This memory can help build a more humane, more welcoming world. But without memory you can’t build, without a foundation you will never build a house. Never. And the foundation of life is memory. But first, let us think that we also have to evangelize the elderly, because many times we give it to them because they already know, and yet, in matters of faith they are at the beginning.
Finally, prayer. Said Benedict XVI: “The prayer of the elderly can protect the world, helping them perhaps in a more incisive way than the solicitude of many.” Your prayer is a precious resource: it is a lung of which the Church and the world cannot be deprived” (E.G.262).
Let us visit the elderly, as Mary did when she visited her elderly cousin Elizabeth. The visit is an opportunity for each youth or adult to say to the older person they are visiting, “I am with you every day.” The visit can be an opportunity to bring a gift, such as a flower, and read a prayer together. And if possible, help them to approach the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist. If you are unable to visit them via phone or social media give them a message of hope.
And in religious life, how can we interiorize this Day? We know that we religious do not retire, even if we are in a house of rest or special care for health reasons, as in the convent of St. Thomas of Villanova in Salamanca, our life to the end always has a meaning and we always have something to do and offer for others, such is the case of our prayers and sufferings. At this difficult time for humanity, as we all cross in the same boat, the stormy sea of the pandemic, your intercession for the world and for the church is not in vain, but indicates to all the serene confidence of a place of arrival.
A few days ago, Father Fernando Sacristán died, for me a saint, whom I had as my formator for three years while I was in high school in Logroño. His example of life, his serene words and his contagious joy illuminated the way for the younger generations. These elderly religious leave their mark on the memory and deserve unique and careful attention until the end of their lives.
Ángel Herrán OAR