Fr. Shenan J. Boquet: Embracing the Blessings of Old Age

“God’s fidelity to his promises teaches us that there is a blessedness in old age, an authentic evangelical joy inspiring us to break through the barriers of indifference in which the elderly often find themselves enclosed.”  ~Pope Leo XIV, Message for the Fifth Annual Day of Grandparents and the Elderly

Five years ago, Pope Francis called upon people of all faiths or no faith to celebrate the first ever World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. This year, on Sunday, July 27, we will celebrate the fifth such day.

In a letter preparing for this year’s celebration, our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, draws attention to the great dignity and worth of the elderly, and lays out concrete ways that the Church and the faithful can do to help protect the elderly from a growing mindset that devalues them.

The Holy Father begins the letter by pointing to the many elderly figures in the Scriptures who were called upon to accomplish great acts even in their declining years. “This was the case not only with Abraham, Sarah, Zechariah and Elizabeth, but also with Moses, who was called to set his people free when he was already eighty years old,” he wrote. ….