It makes no difference how old you are, whether you still work or not, whether you are alone or have a family, whether you become a grandmother or grandfather at a young age or later, whether you are still independent or need assistance. Because there is not a retirement age from the work of proclaiming the Gospel and handing down traditions to your grandchildren. You just need to set out and undertake something new…

As I have often observed, we will not emerge from the [pandemic] crisis as we were before, but either better or worse. God willing, this may prove not to be just another tragedy of history from which we learn nothing. If only we might keep in mind all the elderly persons who died for lack of respirators. If only this immense sorrow may not prove useless, but enable us to take a step forward toward a new way of life. If only we might discover once and for all that we need each other; and that in this way, our human frailty can experience a rebirth. No one is saved alone. We are all indebted to one another. We are all brothers and sisters.

Given this, I want to tell you that you are needed in order to help build, in fraternity and social friendship, the world of tomorrow — the world in which we will live, together with our children and grandchildren, once the storm has subsided. All of us must take an active part in renewing and supporting our troubled societies. Among the pillars that support this new edifice, there are three that you, better than anyone else, can help set up. Those three pillars are dreams, memory, and prayer. The Lord’s closeness will give to everyone, even the frailest among us, the strength needed to embark on a new journey along the paths of dreams, memory, and prayer…

The future of the world depends on the covenant between young and old. Who, if not the young, can take the dreams of the elderly and make them come true? But for this to happen, we must continue to dream. Our dreams of peace, justice, and solidarity can make it possible for young people to have new visions. In this way, together, we can build a better future…Dreams are therefore intertwined with memory. One thinks of the painful memory of war and its importance for helping the young to learn the value of peace. Those who experienced the suffering of war must pass on this message. Keeping memory alive is a true mission for every elderly person; keeping memory alive and sharing it with others…Memory can help us build a more humane and welcoming world.

Finally, prayer. As my predecessor, Pope Benedict, himself a saintly and elderly person who continues to pray and work for the Church, once said: “The prayer of the elderly can protect the world, helping it perhaps more effectively than the frenetic activity of many others.” He spoke these words in 2012, near the end of his pontificate.

There is something beautiful here. Your prayer is a very precious resource: a deep breath that the Church and the world urgently need. Especially during these difficult times, as we continue to sail in the same boat across stormy seas, your intercession for the Church and the world has great val- ue. It inspires in everyone the serene trust that we will soon come to the shore…I ask the Lord that all of us may also open our hearts in sensitivity to the sufferings of the poor and pray for their needs. May each of us learn to repeat to all, and especially to the young, the words of consolation that the Lord speaks to us today and everyday: “I am with you always!” Keep moving forward! May God bless you all!

CCGR Weekly Newsletter (8-1-21)
Bringing Home the Word (8-1-21)
The Kids Bulletin (8-1-21)

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Pastor’s Note
About This Week’s Message