Beginning this year, the Pope Francis' instituted World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly will be held on the fourth Sunday of July (25 July for 2021), close to the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus (26 July).
Pope Francis instituted the World Day because ‘grandparents are often forgotten, and we forget this wealth of preserving roots and passing on’ what the elderly have received.
According to Vatican News, he emphasised the importance of grandparents and grandchildren getting to know one another, because ‘as the prophet Joel says, grandparents seeing their grandchildren dream’, while ‘young people, drawing strength from their grandparents, will go forward and prophesy’.
Reading, questions and reflections for small groups.
26 July
Matthew 13:31-35
The smallest of all seeds grows into the biggest shrub of all
Jesus put a parable before the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’
He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’
In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy: I will speak to you in parables and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.
QUESTIONS
As we gather together let us reflect on how we support others in our lives.
- What seeds have you sown?
- How have you ensured they’ve flourished?
- What are the obstacles that get in the way of growth?
- Let us also reflect Jesus’ use of parables. What is it about them that makes them so powerful?
REFLECTION
The gardens of our grandparents
Moses seeks forgiveness for his countrymen, and even as he’s angered by their actions, he is so bounded to these people that God’s inability to forgive them might as well amount to him being ‘blot[ed] out’.
Many of us know the feeling of a grandparent willing to be blotted out in service and protection of a grandchild. Our grandparents so often convey wisdom and a mellowed, but savvy, awareness on the ways of the world. Usually, savvier than we recognise.
Grandparents are often the ones who plant, and lovingly tend, mustard seeds. Knowing that they will not see the fullness of this growth; a grandparent’s tender care is an act of great hope.
It’s a gift then, today, to contemplate Jesus’s grandparents, known to us as Joachim and Anne. What might they have planted in their grandson? What hope might he have given them?
Let us pray: Our Father . . .
This article first appeared in the Winter 2021 edition of Madonna magazine.