MARFAM FAMILY WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 24 JULY 2024

Whether it is a day, a week, a month, a year, once we have been granted the gift of grandchildren they are ours forever more.   Whether they are present in our lives and homes every day, we love them, remember them, pray for them.  We do so even from the time of their conception, which in a number of cases can be traumatic as when there is an unplanned teenage pregnancy, a rape, a concern at another mouth to feed or a greatly desired wish that we hold on to “for dear life.”    There are times when they are very precious to their two parents, or just one, and precious too to us. There are times when there is great concern for their wellbeing, especially during the teenage years when they may rebel,  become more independent and may make good or bad choices.  Being a grandparent is hardly ever a choice.  It is a gift, a burden, and maybe also an unsolicited  task.  Grandparents may be happy, rejoice or be angry, hurt, feel used and at times are exploited.  Can we share these feelings with our own children, and also be there for them to listen to their joys and concerns?.  

Sometimes we’re jumping up and down with joy, bursting to share and brag about how wonderful they are.. But there are also times when it isn’t easy to share these deepest thoughts and feelings and maybe all we can do is pray.  We can pray alone or maybe share with a confidante, who will listen attentively and caringly, not necessarily solve a problem, and also reciprocate and share their own thoughts and feelings.   

Synodal prayer, a CONVERSATION IN THE SPIRIT, is a way introduced in the 2021-2023 Synod and will be taken up again in the October Synod on Synodality by the Church as a whole.  It is also a wonderful model for family sharing, in families or about our faith journey as a family member, in this case a grandparent.  The MOVEMENT OF PRAYER OF GRANDPARENTS FOR THEIR GRANDCHILDREN is a simple way to assist in a prayer journey and offer support.  With no fixed format, read and reflect on a scripture passage, call to mind each of the children, whatever their age and current reality, and reflect with the attached prayer or another spontaneous or favourite prayer.    

I personally wish I did this more often. I tend to have bouts when I try, and then it peters out because there is often little response to my whatsapp campaign,  but I’m still there.   I have been a grandmother for over 30 years, a grandparent together with Chris, their granddad, for their first 8 years  and of course a parent of our own four and their spouses. But the many and constant changes in life make it necessary to bring our current reality to God – a Father, the Trinity – a community of love,  Mary a mother and her parents Joachim and Ann, whose feastday we celebrate son 26 July. My prayer life is very much about my everyday life experiences and right now as I approach my 80th birthday I am grateful for the richness and even the ups and down which have taught me, let me say “The Way of Love level 101m” family love and in a small way, grandmotherly love.   

Today FAMILY MATTERS, my radio show on RADIO VERITAS will we a live video broadcast. We are going to use this movement and pray together, with and for our own and one another’s grandchildren. It will be screened on the Radio Veritas facebook page. The text can be downloaded and followed.    

Download MOVEMENT OF PRAYER ….https://marfam.org.za/2024/07/09/movement-of-prayer-of-grandparents-for-their-grandchildren/

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY JULY 24

July 24.   Granny Beatrice shared,  “These days there is a shortage of vocations to the priesthood but the need exists as much as ever.  I don’t believe parents encourage and support their young people to consider such a vocation. At the same time I know that there are young people who do feel called to serve God and the community as lay people, even in politics or a helping profession or in a kind of social justice apostolate like climate activism.  I think we need to do more to promote the sense of caring for others and the common good with all our youth.”  Jerry added,  “We also need to promote this sense of the family as a common good with the priests and religious too.”  

Reflect, share, scripture:  The Lord said to me, “Do not say, “I am only a youth, for to all to whom I send you, You shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you.  I have put my words in your mouth. I have set you over nations and kingdoms, to luck up and break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”  Jeremiah 1:1-10  Pope Francis:    By developing our individual God-given capacities, an ecological conversion can inspire us to greater creativity and enthusiasm in resolving the world’s problems and in offering ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable.  LS 220     ACTION AND PRAYER.  Consider any action and prayer for a sense of vocation in life.