Prayer for the Fourth World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly 28 July 2024
Lord, faithful God,
You who created us in Your image,
You who never leaves us alone
and who accompanies us through every season of life,
Do not abandon us, take care of us,
And grant us, once again,
The ability to discover ourselves
and recognise that we are Your children.
Renew our hearts with your Word
And do not allow anyone to be cast aside.
May your Spirit of love fill us with Your tenderness
And teach us to say:
“I will not abandon you!”
To those we meet on our journey.
With the help of your beloved Son,
may we not lose the taste for fraternity
And may we not conform to the sadness of loneliness.
Help us to look to the future with renewed hope,
And make the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly
A day without loneliness, and a day abundant
with the first-fruits of Your peace.
Amen.
A Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly
I Thank you, Lord, for the comfort of your presence: even in loneliness you are my hope and my confidence; you have been my rock and my fortress since my youth.
I thank you for having given me a family and for having blessed me with a long life.
I thank your moments of joy and difficulty, for the dreams that have already come true in my life and for those that are still ahead of me.
I thank you for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which you call me.
Increase, O Lord, my faith, make me a channel of your peace, teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me, to never stop dreaming and to tell of your wonders to new generations.
Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.
Send your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world, that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed, the poor consoled and the wars ended.
Sustain me in weakness and help me to live life to the full in each moment that you give me, in the certainty that you are with me every day, even until the end of the age.
Amen.
POPE FRANCIS EMPHASISED THAT THE VOCATION OF
THE THIRD AGE IS TO ‘GUARD THE ROOTS, TRANSMIT
THE FAITH TO YOUNG PEOPLE
AND TAKE CARE OF THE LITTLE ONES.’
Grandparents and the Elderly 2023
Elderly and Grandparent's Day
Our celebration of Grandparents and the Elderly was well received with some of our schoolchildren preparing verses on what Grandparents meant to them. We all enjoyed the verses which can all be seen below.