OVERVIEW JULY.  Grandparents are families’ roots.  Old age is in many cultures and families recognized with respect,  and the elderly are guarded by their offspring and the wider community, in animal and also in human society.  Grandparents belong in families and are its historical memory. Not all grandparents are elderly, many are active in their own lives, while  many others play a great role in the lives of their children, practically and spiritually,  At the same time in the great circle of life there is a time for everything, from birth to death, for coming and going, for remaining and leaving. All these phases should be handled with patience, consideration and acceptance. The whole month can be dedicated to the needs of grandparents in particular, which could be material, emotional and spiritual also being aware that violence towards the elderly is too common. Pope Francis: Very often it is grandparents who ensure that the most important values are passed down to their grandchildren and many people testify that they owe their initiation into the Christian life to their grandparents.  AL 192. Our contemporary experience of being orphans as a result of cultural discontinuity, uprootedness and the collapse of the certainties that shape our lives, challenges us to make our families places where children can sink roots in the rich soil of a collective history.  AL 193. May the elderly experience gratitude and the children encouragement.  

FOR FULL JULY MONTH THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY https://marfam.org.za/marfam-thoughts-for-the-day-july-2025/

Scripture: The Lord overthrew those cities with their inhabitants and the produce of the soil.  But Lot’s wife looked back and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Read from Gene 19: 15-29. Pope Francis.  The equal dignity of men and women makes us rejoice to see old forms of discrimination disappear and within families there is a growing reciprocity.   AL54. JUBILEE. Saint Paul is a realist. He knows that life has its joys and sorrows, that love is tested amid trials, and that hope can falter in the face of suffering. Even so, he can write: “We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom 5:3-4   SNC4).  Act and pray. For the needs of families, especially grandparents and the elderly.

July 1   Patriarchy.   Mrs Ndebele complained that the Old Testament is often quite patriarchal and almost always makes men the leaders and women as less capable.  “At our age that isn’t really true.   We women may be inquisitive but also often more capable and energetic. Right?  “Just think about the example of Lot and his wife.  We’ve probably heard about them  and the destruction of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot negotiated a deal with the avenging angels and they were warned not to look back.  As they were escaping the fire and destruction Lot’s wife did stop and look back and so she was punished and turned into a pillar of salt.  But was that really fair?”