Look for your grandparents and don’t marginalize them, for your own good: “The marginalization of the elderly corrupts all seasons of life, not just old age.” You, on the other hand, learn the wisdom of his strong love, and also of his fragility, which is a “magisterium” capable of teaching without the need for words, a true antidote against the hardening of the heart: this will help you to savor the life as a relationship. This was the Pope’s exhortation at the meeting with grandparents, elderly people and grandchildren
Raimundo de Lima – Vatican News
Listen with the voice of Pope Francis and share
“When you, grandparents and grandchildren, old and young, are together, when you see and hear each other often, when you take care of each other, your love is a breath of fresh air that refreshes the world and society and makes us everyone stronger, beyond the ties of kinship”, said Francis when receiving in an audience this Saturday morning, April 27, in the Paul VI Room, in the Vatican, in a festive atmosphere, grandparents, elderly people and grandchildren, an event promoted by “Età Grande” Foundation.
The meeting “The caress and the smile”, which was attended by numerous characters from the world of entertainment, brought together representatives of both generations to promote the elderly and their role in today’s world.
It’s good to welcome you here, grandparents and grandchildren, young and old. Today we see, as the Psalm says, how good it is to be together (Ps 133). Just look at you to realize this, because there is love between you, the Pope stressed, inviting those present to reflect on this, on the fact that love makes us better, richer and wiser, at all ages.
Love makes us better
First: love makes us better. You also demonstrate this, that you become better reciprocally by loving each other. And I say this to you as a “grandfather”, with the desire to share the ever-young faith that unites all generations. I also received it from my grandmother, from whom I first learned about Jesus, who loves us, who never leaves us alone, and who encourages us to be close to each other and never exclude anyone. It was with her that I heard the story of that family in which there was a grandfather who, because he no longer ate well at the table and got dirty, was sent away, left to eat alone. It wasn’t a good thing, in fact it was very bad! So the grandson spent a few days tinkering with hammers and nails, and when his father asked him what he was doing, he replied: “I’m building a table for you, so you can eat alone when you get old! My grandmother taught me that, and I never forgot it.
Don’t forget this too, noted the Pontiff, because it is only by being together with love, without excluding anyone, that you become better, more human!
Love makes us richer
Not only that, but you also become richer. Our society is full of people specialized in many things, rich in knowledge and useful resources for everyone. If, however, there is no sharing and everyone thinks only of themselves, all wealth will be lost, becoming, in fact, an impoverishment of humanity. And this is a great risk for our time: the poverty of fragmentation and selfishness. Let’s think, for example, about some of the expressions we use: when we talk about “the world of young people”, “the world of old people”, “the world of this and that”… But there is only one world! And it is made up of many realities that are different precisely so that they can help and complement each other: generations, peoples and all differences, if harmonized, can reveal, like the faces of a great diamond, the wonderful splendor of man and creation. This is also what the fact that you are together teaches us: not to let diversity create rifts between us! Do not pulverize the diamond of love, the most beautiful treasure that God has given us.
Sometimes we hear phrases like “think about yourself!”, “don’t need anyone!”. These are false phrases, which deceive people, making them believe that it is good not to depend on others, to do it for themselves, to live like islands, while these are attitudes that only create a lot of loneliness, continued the Holy Father.
Love makes us wiser
And this brings us to the last aspect: the love that makes us wiser. Dear grandchildren, your grandparents are the memory of a world without memory, and “when a society loses its memory, it is finished”. Listen to them, especially when they teach you, through their love and testimony, to cultivate the most important affections, which are not obtained by force, do not appear by success, but fill the life.
Finally, before saying goodbye, the Holy Father left them with a strong exhortation. Look for your grandparents and don’t marginalize them, for your own good: “The marginalization of the elderly (…) corrupts all seasons of life, not just old age”. You, on the other hand, learn the wisdom of his strong love, and also of his fragility, which is a “magisterium” capable of teaching without the need for words, a true antidote against the hardening of the heart: this will help you to savor the life as a relationship.
