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on Sunday, July 27, 2025
Dear sisters and brothers,
Today we are celebrating the Day of Grandparents and Seniors for the fifth time. Pope Francis has chosen a quote from the book of Sirach (14:2) for this day: “Blessed is the one who has not lost hope.” This should not surprise us, as we are experiencing the Holy Year as pilgrims of hope. The Holy Father invites us to reflect on how the presence of grandparents and seniors can become a sign of hope in every family and in the church community. What path leads to this, when today the older generation is often overlooked?
In the first reading, we heard an excerpt from the conversation between Abraham and the Lord preceding the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities lost hope because the sin of their inhabitants was very grave; they exchanged true values for false ones. The experience of grandparents and the senior age has a great mission: to show and pass on to the younger generation the true values of life. This is not an easy task when we realize what notion of a valuable life prevails – it is often associated with the cult of eternal youth and the highest achievements. If this notion were shared by the older generation of Christians, then the values of life would be clouded. How would a person in the senior age cope with decreasing strength, repeated news of the departure of acquaintances and friends, how would they overcome the returning feeling of uselessness
and loneliness that stems from the rapid pace and style of the surrounding world? Those who build their lives on Christian values will not lose hope.
In today’s Gospel, we heard an important word about hope. The disciples sensed that the source of Jesus’ hope is precisely prayer. Therefore, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” After Jesus spoke the Lord's Prayer, he told the story of how one man helped his “importunate” friend. This story is a great testimony of how to deal with challenging situations. How many similar stories about life situations can you, grandparents and seniors, share with your children and grandchildren? Please, find a way to pass this experience of faith on to them! And you, sons and daughters, grandchildren, create space to listen to your parents and grandparents. You will surely hear that they also went through trials and uncertainties, not knowing how to address various situations, but they did not despair, because they could live their lives with the support that God gives. Thus, amidst their lives, they did not lose hope, but rather grew in it. The Gospel has echoed the well-known words: “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” These words testify not only to human diligence and perseverance, but first and foremost to the fact that we can approach God with confidence as our Father.
The founder and president of the Catholic association of grandparents, Catherine Wiley, once said: “Today’s world is neither worse nor better than ours. It is completely different. Our task is to live in it with our children and to witness our faith through our attitude in everyday situations.”
In the bull for the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis writes that hope is born from love. Let us decide that on this Day of Grandparents and Seniors, we will express love to one another, which will also bring us the hope that does not deceive. Thank you for this attitude.
In unity in prayer and with blessings
Your Czech and Moravian bishops
