From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 25th July
Hi everyone, but especially a big "High Five" to all our grandparents, those stately elderly people who form such a large and essential part of our RGCP family. Along with Pope Francis and the whole Catholic Church, we salute and celebrate you today, as the Pope has said:
"The whole Church is close to you - to us - especially those who feel isolated and alone - and cares about you, loves you and does not want to leave you alone."
In this message to all of you on this Sunday, Pope Francis has some enlightening thoughts to share with all of us about the dignity and essential need for your vocation in the Church today. In a world in which the word 'vocation' is often reserved for the young, he invites you all to take up your own calling, given to you ever since your Baptism, and reinforced with the personalised gifts of the Holy Spirit at your Confirmation. This calling may morph and reshape itself over time, but it never loses its essential quality nor the urgency for it to be exercised.
As the Pope himself confesses: "I was called to become the Bishop of Rome when I had reached, so to speak, retirement age and thought I would not be doing anything new... The Lord is always - always - close to us ... close to us with new possibilities, new ideas, new consolations... You know that the Lord is eternal; he never goes into retirement!"
What the Pope is doing is calling each and every one of you into a new springtime of mission for the Church. In line with the command Jesus gave all of us in Matthew 28: 19-20, to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations", which is highlighted in the new Archdiocesan Mission Plan: Go Make Disciples, he says to you:
"These words are addressed to you today... Think about it: what is our vocation today at our age? To preserve our roots, to pass on the faith to the young and to care for the little ones. Never forget this!"
I love the urgency and clarity with which the Pope speaks. Maybe you would think that at 84 years of age, the Pope would be slowing down! Instead he has this to say to you:
"It makes no difference how old you are, whether you still work or not, whether you are alone or have a family, whether you became a grandmother or grandfather at a young age or later, whether you are still independent or need assistance. Because there is no retirement age from the work of proclaiming the Gospel and handing down the traditions to your grandchildren. You just need to set out and undertake something new."
Well, there it is. Audacious. Urgent. Utterly relevant. Directed at your good selves. That is his message to you - and to himself, mind you - on this great day. We, your Parish, we want to give you the opportunity to make your talents available to us all. There are plenty of things you can do for the Parish and for one another. We could easily have a morning every week up at our Parish (once the COVID lockdowns are over) with a lovely morning tea and an age-appropriate activity to boot! And you have the "Young at Heart" group with their activities almost every month. There are also ministries and sundry work at which you could excel. If none of these catches your fancy, why not invent something in your own areas of interest or expertise?
Again, from the Holy Father:
"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, together with our children and grandchildren, will live once the [COVID] storm has subsided. All of us must take an active part in renewing and supporting our troubled societies..."
Even your prayer is well and truly valued, needed and requested... "The prayer of the elderly can protect the world, helping it perhaps more effectively than the frenetic activity of many others"... Your prayer is a very precious resource: a deep breath that the Church and the world urgently need"
And I, as your Parish Priest, encourage you to get involved in our Parish life, to offer a range of services and social/pastoral opportunities and encounters for the sake of as many of our elderly people as possible. Please feel free to contact me with any of your ideas; I'm all ears! Please let me know of any elderly person(s) you know who could do with a pastoral visit or a call from either myself or one of our priests, for we would be only too happy to oblige.
Wishing you all the very best on this First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, I send you my fondest regards and prayers for all of you.
Your brother, in Christ's service,
Fr Greg
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