Faith and Family: World Day for Grandparents & the Elderly
Sunday 28th July 2024Today, the Church celebrates World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly – a joyful celebration of the wisdom, tradition, and faith that is handed down from generation to generation.
This year, this annual celebration coincides with another joyful occasion, the centenary of our Salford Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.
For the past 100 years, pilgrims from across the diocese have been travelling to the small French town of Lourdes, establishing a legacy that has been passed down through the generations to be a vital aspect of family faith life in our modern-day diocese.
Today, our diocesan pilgrimage is an occasion for family members of all ages to come together in celebration of shared faith, with grandparents passing on their teachings, experience, and stories to younger generations, helping them to encounter the blessings and charisms of Lourdes in their own way.
Family is where faith begins
Dr Jennifer Klimiuk, a long-standing pilgrim and member of the Salford Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage Coordination team, is delighted to be travelling with her parents and children this year.
She said: “Family is where faith begins! One of the most importance aspects of faith is witness, if children see parents and grandparents with a love for their faith, a love for God, then they are much more likely to follow in their footsteps and continue on their own faith journey when they become adults and parents themselves.”
David Thompson, treasurer of the Salford Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage Coordination team and grandfather of 10, will also be making this year’s pilgrimage a full family affair, travelling with his wife, Wendy, two of their four daughters, their husbands and their parents, and six grandchildren.
He said: “Our family’s connection with Lourdes goes back many years. I recall many of my great aunts, all of whom lived in Burnley, going to Lourdes when I was a child and coming back talking about their experiences.
“Such tales were passed on to my children by my mother, who took my sister to Lourdes in the late 1950s.
“I think my mother’s tales stayed with each of my daughters so much that they all became volunteers whilst in senior school and at university. They, now, are passing on their experiences to their own children who will be in Lourdes this year to celebrate the centenary, with three of my grandchildren being altar servers.”
Witnesses of faith and silent intercessors
Today, Canon Paul Daly, Episcopal Vicar for Formation for the Diocese of Salford, pays tribute to the role grandparents play in our lives and the way they shape and support us throughout our lives.
He said: “Grandparents do so much. They enjoy their time looking after their grandchildren but, after an exhausting day, are sometimes happy to return them to their parents.
“World Day for Grandparents coincides with the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne. Family life was different then but I delight in reflecting on Joachim and Anne looking after the young Jesus, proudly attending his Bar Mitzvah, and being for Jesus a source of wisdom, spirituality, humour, and all the gifts that grandparents bring.”
This year – whilst in Lourdes – Canon Paul will be reflecting on a particularly special family connection.
He said: “I’ve always loved his-tory, or rather my-story, delving into the events in the story of my forebears that have shaped and moulded me.
“I first went to Lourdes as a 15-year-old in 1981. While I was there, I heard that my Nana, Lily Daly, had died at the age of 81. So, I prayed for the repose of her soul there in Lourdes, little realising that, as a young 24 year-old-woman, she had been a pilgrim on our first diocesan pilgrimage 100 years ago.
“I prayed for her in Lourdes in 1981; I am sure she has prayed for me, and accompanied me, in every pilgrimage to Lourdes since then.
“Families shape us! I should know. The example and support of family members who witness to their faith and also the hidden prayers of close family members who prayed me into priesthood are so important.”
Tagged | Catholic Church | faith | Family | Pilgrimage
