HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. Today is the fifth annual ‘World Day of Grand-parents and the Elderly’. The day is celebrated each year on the Sunday nearest to the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus. The theme of the celebration this Jubilee Year is: ‘Blessed are they who have not lost hope’. In the light of the Gospel this Sunday, I would like to share a few thoughts on the hope that grandparents can give to their grandchildren and how they too can find new hope by planting the seed of faith in future generations.

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, to avoid harm 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. This is not just a general statement. It is true for every parish, faith community, village and town including our own. Today’s Grandparents face challenges unimaginable to previous generations: complex family structures, strained relationships, threats to life at its beginning and end, and a culture that dismisses faith as something of the past.

Grandparents know better: faith is a treasure for today and tomorrow, and it is their sacred duty to pass it on. In this spiritual battle, Grandparents remain God’s secret weapon — the quiet, persistent force keeping families anchored in truth, the glue that holds them together when all else falls apart. While others may stand by, Grandparents never do. They love deeply, pray fervently, and hold fast to what others have forgotten: that faith, wisdom, and life’s experience are gifts that cannot be replaced by social media or artificial intelligence.

Sometimes grandparents feel like they are failing or have failed especially when their children and grandchildren do not seem to value the gift of faith like they do. But we can never fail so long as we keep on doing what we are doing - praying, showing the way and passing our Faith. But how? Here are three ways that encourage grandparents to find creative and effective ways of passing on the gift of faith to their children and grandchildren..

First, do what Jesus does in the Gospel today. He teaches us how to pray by teaching us the ‘Our Father’. Sometimes it’s that simple. Just by teaching your grand-children to bless themselves and praying the Lord’s prayer with them is one of the most valuable things you can do. We need each other to bring us back to the basics of our faith and children can do that for us. Make it a habit. By teaching them the Lord’s prayer, it unites us not only them but connects them to the Apostles, saints and the whole Church in an unbroken tradition going back over two thousand years. It is our family prayer for it is a prayer to ‘Our’ Father and not just ‘My’ Father.

Second, tell them what you love. I recently met a grandmother who was distressed because most of her children no longer participate in Mass. ‘What can I do to bring them back?’ she asked. ‘By telling them what you love’ I replied. ‘If you love the Lord, tell them why. If you love the Eucharist and the sacraments, tell them why you love them. Because when you love something or someone, you will always find the words and the ways to share it’.

Third, be confident in the value of the faith you desire to share. Our Christian faith is the reason we value the dignity of every human being and the respect that is their due. It teaches us the value of human life, the family, respect for grandparents and the elderly, the idea of a vocation, the meaning and purpose to life that faith gives. Be confident that the faith you want them to have, is what makes life more humane and beautiful. In the words of the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh, resist the ‘clever villages that laughed at ancient holiness’ because it is this ancient holiness that will save us and keep us sane.

Grandparents never give up hope, and they never will. Families are encouraged to mark this day not only in the Church but also at home, uniting in prayer and gratitude for all that Grandparents do. Here in our parish, we stand in solidarity with grandparents  and are united by the same goal to do the very best we can for our children and grandchildren.

It is our duty, our responsibility, our vocation and the most important job we will ever have - to witness and speak of the God whom we love and we know loves us. ‘Blessed are they who have not lost hope’. May all grandparents be truly blessed by new hope this day. Amen.