The Irish National Grand-parents Pilgrimage to Knock that was due to take place this Sunday 13th September has been moved to a virtual event online, beginning at 3pm. You can access it at www.knockshrine.ie/watch
Below is an introduction to the work and mission of the Catholic Grand-parents Association found on their website with a written and video message from its founder Catherine Wiley.
Welcome to the Catholic Grandparents Association
Grandparents have no agenda; they simply want the best for their grandchildren. They want them to be good, decent human beings, to know the difference between right and wrong, able to make good moral decisions and, if they go astray along the way, to be able to find their way back to a loving, forgiving, non-judgemental God.
Grandparents' vital contribution to the family, the Church and society was never as important as now. We are living in unprecedented times, with constantly changing social and moral values. Times of great emotional, physical and financial stress, Sometimes we feel like we are failing. We are not. We can never fail so long as we keep on doing what we are doing - praying, showing the way and passing our Faith.
This association grew out of our Grandparents Pilgrimages, where thousands of grandparents gathered in recent years, united by the same goal to do the very best we can for our children and grandchildren.
At the heart of the Catholic Garandparents Association is the firm belief that this is our duty, our responsibility, our vocation, and we must do what we can. This is probably the most important job we will ever have and, for many of us, it may be our last. It is one from which we can never retire, so let us do our best. We owe it to our grandchildren.
May God bless you, your grandchildren, and your children, now and forever.
PRAYER FOR GRAND-PARENTS
BY Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
Written at the request of the CGA in 2008.
Lord Jesus, you were born in the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne. Look with love on grandparents the world over. Protect them! They are a source of enrichment for families, for the Church and for all of society. Support them! As they grow older, may they continue to be for their families strong pillars of Gospel faith, guardians of noble domestic ideals, living treasuries of sound religious traditions. Make them teachers of wisdom and courage, that they may pass on to future generations the fruits of their mature human and spiritual experience.
Lord Jesus, help families and society to value the presence and role of grandparents. May they never be ignored or excluded, but always encounter respect and love. Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed in all the years of life which you give them. Mary, Mother of all the living, keep grandparents constantly in your care, accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage, and by your prayers, grant that all families may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland, where you await all humanity for the great embrace of life without end. Amen!