July 9. SEE.   It was quite unusual in the prayer group of the elderly to have a few men, some of them grandfathers.  Andrew was in an unusual position too.  His wife and daughter had been killed in a car accident some years ago.  “I chose to become father and mother to the little boy who survived.  There were some aunts but I had considered it my task to nurture the boy.“  Then he shared how angry and disappointed he was at times that the boy, who had been so committed as a teenager, had stopped going to church and taken up with some colleagues I don’t approve of.   “I don’t know what he has got into it, but I keep asking myself, what has happened to his faith?”  

JUDGE. Reflect and share. Scripture:   When Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me.  My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender.  I will not execute my fierce anger. Hosea 11:1-9. Pope Francis.  The special sensibility that those of us who are elderly have for the concern, thoughts and the affections that make us human should once again become the vocation of many.   It would be a sign of our love for the young generations and a contribution to the revolution of tenderness.  Message to Grandparents and the Elderly 2022. Pope Leo:  Indeed, dialogue is an ordinary part of human life and does not only concern relations between States. It involves acquiring an attitude that seeks to forge bonds of fraternity built on listening, an open demeanor, making time for each other and even wasting time together. MH 220

ACT AND PRAY.  Are you compassionate or judgemental with young people when they appear to lose faith.  Pray for patience and pray the Prayer of St Francis aand for grandparents and the elderly.  We pray for God’s blessing on the grandparents and elderly of our families and community,  bless them with peace and contentment and an acceptance that their lives were well spent in your service. We ask St Joachim and St Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, to pray with us.