Religious Education and Social Justice

Prayer for Grandparents

In 2021,  Pope Francis proclaimed that the World Day for Grandparents is to be celebrated on the fourth Sunday in July each year. This year, the dedicated day was last Sunday, 26th July. The day is marked near the Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. 

The theme of this year’s World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly draws on a powerful promise from Scripture: “I will never forget you” (Is 49:15). In his message for the sixth celebration of the day, Pope Leo XIV reminded Catholics that this promise should shape how all treat the older adults in their lives.

Pope Leo wrote:

“The painful feeling of being forgotten is, unfortunately, shared by many people, and among them are quite a few elderly people.” 

Pope Leo warns that the elderly can become invisible as they age, becoming isolated in their homes or becoming just a bed number or an illness in a care home. Observing the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is “an opportunity to rediscover that the church is called to be a mother to all and that at any age it is always possible to recognise ourselves as sons and daughters of God.”

Dear God,

Please bless our grandparents.

Thank you for the life they gave our parents and for the life they give to us.

For the ways they help us be strong, 

we give thanks.

For the ways they love us no matter what, 

we rejoice.

For the ways they have paved the road that leads us here, we are grateful.

Let them grow in wisdom and joy in life.

Let them find peace and rest from their work.

Let them be healed of every sickness and pain.

And let them see with their own eyes 

the glory of your Son, Jesus,

in the love of their children and grandchildren.

Bless them always until they come 

to rest in you.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Jane Wilkinson

Religious Education Leader