MARFAM WEEKLY FAMILY MATTERS E-NEWSLETTER 16 JULY 2025

I remember celebrating a few friends’ 90th birthday events over the last few years, even in the last few days, and they were happy, blessed occasions.  None of them were in my own immediate family. Can I say thank goodness, as right now, in my 80s,  I honestly don’t feel I even want to reach that milestone myself? Are 90 year olds – or 80s or 70s –  proud and happy and content in the bosom of their loving family, or lonely and neglected, or somewhere in between?  Are they confused, fearful about their future, and likely having a growing range of health problems, physical and mental? Are they what Pope Leo XIV calls being  signs of hope and in what way?  He present a challenging  message from St Augustine who said, “Let your strength fail, so that my strength may abide within you and you can say with the Apostle, ‘When I am weak, then I am strong.’(Super PS 70,11)

In his recent message for the 2025 Day for Grandparents and the Elderly the Holy Father makes 3 points.   Firstly  the elderly as signs of hope.  Secondly  creating signs of hope for the elderly and, thirdly as elderly persons we can hope.  In the 2025 Jubilee document Pope Francis had spoken of being and becoming signs of hope and this is the message I have highlighted during the year.  We need to recognize the signs that already exist but also the call to still become signs. “Embracing the elderly helps us all to understand that life is more than just the present moment, but is a passage of generations.”   He states that this also means looking to the future, which possibly we elders don’t do sufficiently, as we tend to dwell on the past.   It does strike me that many of us in old age will experience the loss of a spouse which can be so devastating that it leaves one feeling bereft of hope for any kind of future, at least for a time.    

Signs of hope could be that the weakness of the elderly needs the strength of the young  and they need the witness of the elderly to build the future with wisdom.   These are also about becoming signs of hope.  Recognising the spirit of the Jubilee is a time to act towards liberation from fear,  repayment of debts and care for the poor.  Pope Leo calls on everyone, the Church and society, to adopt an attitude of gratitude and care  for so many elderly who are abandoned and neglected, maybe poor and oppressed.  Abuse of older persons, physical and psychological and at times sexual is too common.

Do we the elderly hope? Focusing on our grandchildren and praying for them or with them, as the Holy Father suggests, is looking at their future, and seeing them as signs of hope.   Families, parents and the young ones themselves can help their grandparents escape loneliness, abandonment and fears about their future by their presence, visits and other means of contact.  

Signs of hope by the elderly and grandparents of a living love of our dear ones, family members and others, children and grandchildren, which has roots in God give us courage to face the future, in real practical ways too,  Sharing interests in the events of our world, peace-building and care for creation can create memories together to sustain them.   

In his final illness Pope Francis wrote, “Nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves, being there for one another in faith as shining signs of hope.”  Pope Leo echoes his sentiments,  “Let us lovingly pass on the faith we have lived for so many years, in our  families and daily encounters with others.   May we always praise God for his goodness, cultivate unity with our loved ones, open our hearts to those far away and those in need.   Everyone, always, can love and pray.“  Maybe there are times when that is all we can do. Amen.   TR FW 16 July 2025

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.

July 16.  God talk. In a family discussion  Amy said, “Gran, I see Moses as a real ‘larger than life’ character.  Nothing simple or ordinary about him, from his birth to his death.”  “Yes, there are people like that, some good people but also some one could even call evil. Think of St Francis, Mahatma Ghandi, JF Kennedy, Nelson Mandela and Hitler, not even to mention any other local figures. Do you think God communicates with his people in unusual ways too, giving them tasks to perform or his future plans for them?”  Basil followed with, “Or do evil people communicate with the devil?  We know there is a spirit world.  It kind of sounds blasphemous, but could it be true?” 

Scripture: Read Ex 3:1-10. When the Lord saw Moses coming over to look God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses.” Pope Francis. Many families show us that it is possible to approach the last stages of life by emphasizing the importance of a person’s sense of fulfilment and participation in the Lord’s paschal mystery.  A number of elderly people are cared for in Church institutions where materially and spiritually they can live in a peaceful family atmosphere. AL48 JUBILEE. The Jubilee indulgence, thanks to the power of prayer, is intended in a particular way for those who have gone before us, so that they may obtain full mercy. Indeed, the indulgence is a way of discovering the unlimited nature of God’s mercy. Not by chance, for the ancients, the terms “mercy” and “indulgence” were interchangeable, as expressions of the fullness of God’s forgiveness, which knows no bounds. SNC23. .   Act and pray. For the needs of families, especially grandparents and the elderly.