MIAMI.- July 26 is the Day of the GrandparentsThis event coincides with the celebration of the Catholic feast of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Virgin Mary.
In some countries there are also other days to honour grandparents. Although they represent an important figure within each family, this day does not have as much media and commercial impact as Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, there is a special and affectionate connotation.
The IV World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly 2024, which Pope Francis has called for, is scheduled for July 28. In this sense, the Supreme Pontiff called for putting aside selfish attitudes and caring for grandparents with an open heart and the joyful face “of those who have the courage to say ‘I will not abandon you!’ and to embark on a different path.”
In turn, the Pope has referred to the different causes of the soledad where many elderly people live. “In several countries, especially in the poorest ones, the elderly are alone because their children have been forced to emigrate,” he said.
Francis also stressed that children and the elderly build the future of peoples. This has a meaning, the Pope explained: “Children because they will carry history forward, and the elderly because they transmit the experience and wisdom of their life.”
Gestures of gratitude
Los grandparents They are associated with pampering and caring for their grandchildren without the strictness of parents. In this sense, celebrating grandparents is considered to be part of the gestures of love and gratitude.
St. John Paul II pointed out that the Bible reserves for grandparents the epithets “rich in wisdom, masters of life, witnesses of the tradition of faith and people full of respect for God.”
At the same time, he defended the importance of preserving or reestablishing “a pact between generations, so that elderly parents, having reached the end of their journey, can find in their children the welcome and solidarity they gave them when they were born”.
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Source: International Day Portal, Vatican News, Early Christians
