Joanita Dias
Panaji, July 29, 2024: Grandparents Day was celebrated in different parishes beginning on 26, the Feast of St Anne.
The theme of this year is “Do not cast me off in my old age” (cf. Psalm 71:9).
Pope Francis, instituted the grandparents Day in 2021 with the theme “I am with you always.”
The Pope said in his Angelus address on July 28, the fourth World Day of Grandparents, “The Day calls us to listen to the voice of the elderly who say, “Do not abandon me!”, and to answer, “I will not abandon you!”
With this in mind, the Pope urged all faithful to work “to strengthen the alliance between grandparents and grandchildren, between young people and the elderly.”
Celebrating Grandparents day in Panjim, father George Fernandes said, “the values imparted by the grandparents still are alive in some families while in some may not be. Elderly had been a treasure house in their youthful days. And that aging is not a condemnation but blessings which all of us will undergo one day or the other.” Fr Fernandes, Director of Diocesan Centre for Lay Apostolate, was celebrating Grandparents’ day with the elderly at “SERRA” the Home for the Aged at Althino, Panjim on 26th July 2024.
“To all of us they are still a priceless gift. Today we have tried our best to honour the grandparents and elderly by our presence and this Eucharistic celebration, so that they do not feel totally neglected but loved in spite of the odds in life,” he added.
The programme was organized in collaboration with the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
The community of 27 at SERRA belong to different religions, including 9 Catholics.
At Mother Theresa’s Church in Melariyode, Diocese of Neyyattinkara, The grandparents were honoured with flowers on Sunday, 28 July.
Fr John Bosco, the parish Priest welcomed the grandparents who entered the church in procession for the Eucharistic Celebration.
“The grandparents have become models and invaluable members in our society today. We also used this opportunity to exhort the young people to listen to their valuable experiences and wisdom,” father Bosco added.
The World Day of Grandparents is celebrated every year on Sunday after the feast of St Anne. The theme for the past three years were “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20) in 2021; “In old age they still bear fruit” (Ps 92:15) in 2022; and “His mercy is from age to age” (Lk 1:50) for the year 2023.