visit an elderly person before leaving for WYD

In the message for Grandparents’ Day that the Church will celebrate this year on July 23, very close to World Youth Day in Lisbon, he invited a meeting between generations. She asked the grandparents to accompany the young people with the prayer: “They are the sign that God does not abandon his people.” Tomorrow Francesco will be discharged from the Gemelli Polyclinic.

Vatican City () – An alliance between young and old, like the one that sealed the evangelical meeting of Mary with her cousin Elizabeth, already advanced in years. It is the horizon pointed out by Pope Francis in the message for the Third World Day of Grandparents, entitled “His mercy extends from generation to generation” (Lk 1,50) that was released today by the Vatican Press Office before the appointment that this year the Church celebrates on Sunday, July 23.

A few days later, Francisco will be in Lisbon for the world meeting with young people that will take place from August 1 to 6. And precisely the proximity between these dates offers the pontiff the opportunity to reflect on his message on the theme of the alliance between young and old. Not only at a theoretical level, but also suggesting concrete gestures of closeness to both.

“To you, young people, who are preparing to go to Lisbon or who will experience World Youth Day in the place where you live – says Francisco – I would like to say: before you set out, go meet your grandparents or pay a visit to an elderly person who is alone. Your prayer will protect them and they will carry in their hearts the blessing of that meeting. I ask you elderly people to accompany the young people who are going to celebrate WYD with prayer. These boys are God’s response to their requests, the fruit of what they sowed, the sign that God does not abandon his people, but always rejuvenates them with the creativity of the Holy Spirit”.

“He who concentrates only on the immediate, on getting benefits for himself quickly and eagerly, on having ‘everything and right away’, loses sight of God’s action,” the Pope explained. His love project, on the contrary, spans past, present and future, embraces and connects generations. It is a project that goes beyond ourselves, but in which each one of us is important, and above all is called to go further. For the youngest, it is about going beyond the immediate in which virtual reality confines us, which often distracts from concrete action; for the elderly, it is a question of not dwelling on the forces that are weakening and of not lamenting the lost opportunities. Let’s look forward, exhorts the pontiff. Let us allow ourselves to be shaped by the grace of God that, from generation to generation, frees us from immobility in acting and from longing for the past”.

Pope Francis is finishing his convalescence at the Gemelli Polyclinic after the intestinal surgery he underwent on June 7. The recovery has proceeded as planned and tomorrow morning he should return to the Vatican. Today he went to the Pediatric Oncology and Children’s Neurosurgery service where he visited the little patients who in recent days had sent him their love through numerous letters, drawings and messages. “Pope Francis – informed the director of the Vatican Press Office Matteo Bruni – has felt close up the pain of these children who every day carry on their shoulders, together with their mothers and fathers, the suffering of the Cross”.