MARFAM WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER 30 JULY 2O25.

2025 FW GRANDPARENTS, ELDERLY AND SIGNS OF HOPE

The month of July for MARFAM has been quite a feast.  Maybe because I’m an elderly and a grandparent myself but there has been so much to consider.  We referred to Pope Francis’ message “Blessed are they who have not lost hope,”  which Pope Leo developed too in his message for the DAY FOR GRANDPARENTS AND THE ELDERLY celebrated on 27 July focusing on the elderly specifically.  His 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. 

Being and becoming Signs of Hope has been for me and MARFAM for families, the particular aspect of the Jubilee message for the year from Pope Francis’ document, SPES NON CONFUNDIT (SNC as noted in the Thoughts for the Day ) i.e Hope does not abandon us.  

During the month we have focused mostly on grandparents and the many different realities, the happy, loving and beloved, difficult, exploited, abused, abandoned and more.  We noted grandchildren and their parents in the special prayer that was used on 23rd in the virtual programme on Radio Veritas, where grandparent guests shared some of their stories as in the MOVEMENT OF PRAYER OF GRANDPARENTS FOR THEIR GRANDCHILDREN. This will hopefully be taken up by others as a source of mutual support, possibly by some who are struggling with their relationships or concerned about problems of the young ones. This process also promoted for faith sharing in the home uses the synodal form of dialogue, sharing from the heart, attentive listening and prayer. (A word of warning: Beware of being overcome with jealousy when your sharing partner speaks with great pride only of all the wonderful achievements of her or his young ones.) But not all grandparents are old or elderly, some may be in their late 30s, 40s or 50s and with young children of their own. Not all elderly, from 60+ are grandparents either.   Visit https://marfam.org.za/grandparents-and-elderly-2025/?_thumbnail_id=9665 for a range of resources.

To reflect on the realities much information can be accessed through google and the given links. In 1999 the UN commemorated the International Year of Older Persons with a statement and a PLAN OF ACTION OF AGEING.  Already in 1998 the Pontifical Council for the Laity produced a document on THE DIGNITYOF OLDER PEOPLE AND THEIR MISSION IN THE CHURCH AND IN THE WORLD.   At the time MARFAM used these in promoting awareness of the meaning of old age, the Church and Older People and the Pastoral Care of Older People.  This MARFAM document is also available on request and some extracts are presented here.

THE MEANING AND VALUE OF OLD AGE.  Older people have special charisms to share:   

Disinterestedness – giving without expecting a return.

Memory – preserving a sense of history for identity.  

Experience – science and technology supplanted the value of life experience.

Interdependence – they draw attention to the social nature of humankind and the need to build interpersonal and social relationships. 

A more complete vision of life – the affective, moral and religious values embodied by older people are an indispensable resource for fostering the harmony of society, the family and the individual.   Values include a sense of responsibility, faith in God, friendship, disinterest in power, prudence, patience, wisdom and a deep inner conviction of the need to respect creation and foster peace.    

THE CHURCH AND OLDER PEOPLE.  Religious practice plays a key place in their  life. They may participate in greater numbers, some return after an absence and they support the community in prayer.  At the same time their religious practice may include a kind of fatalism where suffering, disabilities or loss are regarded as divine punishment by a God who is no longer loving. The community of the elderly through catechesis, scripture sharing,  meditation on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection in the light of their own life and death can restore a horizon of hope.   Development psychologists James and Evelyn Whitehead in Christian Life Patterns ………..   reflecting on the psychological developmental life tasks of various stages of life, identify the task and the challenges of the elderly is to achieve self-acceptance and acceptance of the reality of one’s life as it has been. To have accomplished the necessary tasks of this mature age will result in achieving a sense of integrity and its fruit which is wisdom.  Not succeeding in the tasks and acquiring self-acceptance can result in a sense of despair,  a dissatisfaction with one’s own life at this final stage. Self-acceptance leads to integrity and wisdom, non-acceptance of self to despair, of failure in life and the loss of hope .

In today’s hectic world many of us older people fall short in reflecting deeply on our life’s journey and its tasks.   Support and psycho-spiritual guidance for the elderly can help to smooth the path of the final years.  In this Jubilee year, with Pope Leo taking up the baton from Pope Francis we do our best to be among the “Blessed are they who have not lost hope.” Blessed are we who through our actions and attitudes have found hope for our own future, for our children and grandchildren and hope for the world.   Pope Leo’s prayer intention for August for mutual coexistence  – especially where difficulties do exist will provide food for reflection and action over the next few weeks. TR   30 July 2025.  

Let us pray the BEATITUDES FOR GRANDPARENTS from link above.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.

July 30.   Patience announced to her group with a sense of pride. “Although my daughter was a single mom and had a tough time I feel very proud of my granddaughter Carol.  She has been a very committed Catholic as a teenager, hasn’t slept around and was lucky to meet this super guy Peter, who was the same.  They did marry quite young and I started getting worried when no babies arrived for a while. After two years when they came to show me their first little girl I was really struck by the look of wonder and awe on their faces at the sight of this little miracle. It just made me think they had been talking with God.”  

Scripture: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the covenant in his hand he did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.  Exodus 34:29-35.   Pope Francis: Children once born begin to receive, along with nourishment and care the spiritual gift of knowing with certainty that they are loved.  This love is shown through the gift of their personal name, the sharing of language, looks of love and the brightness of a smile.  In this way they learn that the beauty of human relationships touches our soul, seeks our freedom, accepts the difference of others, recognises and respects them as a partner in dialogue.  Such is love and it contains a spark of God’s love. AL 172. JUBILEE.  Surely we need to “abound in hope” (cf. Rom 15:13), so that we may bear credible and attractive witness to the faith and love that dwell in our hearts; that our faith may be joyful and our charity enthusiastic; and that each of us may be able to offer a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed, in the knowledge that, in the Spirit of Jesus, these can become, for those who receive them, rich seeds of hope. SNC 18. Act and pray. For the needs of families, especially grandparents and the elderly.