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Meaning and value
of the old age

Message to the grand-parents
Catecheses of Pope Francis Audiences
1. The grace of time and the alliance of the ages of life 02/23/2022
The young must dialogue with the old, and the #old with the young. And this bridge will be the transmission of wisdom in humanity, because the elderly are like the roots of the tree, and the young are like the flowers and the fruit. #BlessingOfTheTimes #GeneralAudience @Pontifex
2. Longevity: symbol and opportunity 03/02/2022
The alliance between the two extreme generations of life – children and the elderly – also helps the other two – young people and adults – to bond with each other, to make everyone’s existence richer in humanity. #GeneralAudience #BlessingOfTime
@LaityFamilyLife		 @Pontifex
3. Old age, a resource for carefree youth 03/16/2022
God entrusts the task of saving humanity from the flood to the eldest of all, the “righteous” Noah. In his care for life in all its forms, Noah obeys God’s command, repeating the tender and generous gesture of creation. #BlessingOfTime #GeneralAudience @Pontifex
4. Farewell and inheritance: Memory and testimony 03/23/2022
The elderly enter the promised land, which God desires for every generation, when they offer to the young the beautiful initiation of their witness. Then, guided by the Lord Jesus, the old and the young together enter into His Kingdom of life and love. #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
5. Old age can be a time of spiritual vitality 03/30/2022
The elderly can teach the younger generations how to trust in God, how to be merciful, and how to pray fervently not only in good times, but especially in difficult ones. #BlessingOfTime @PontAcadLife @LaityFamilyLife @Pontifex
6. “Honour thy father and mother” (Ex 20:12): honouring a life lived 04/20/2022
"Honour your father and mother" (Deut 5:16) is a solemn commitment. It is not just about our own father and mother, but about the old age of life… We received the love of our parents, of our grandparents, and now we return this love to them. #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
7. Naomi, the alliance between the generations that opens up the future: book of Ruth (Bible) 04/27/2022
If the young open themselves to gratitude for what they have received, and if the elderly take the initiative of relaunching their future, nothing can stop the flourishing of God’s blessings among peoples! #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
8. Eleazar, the fidelity of old age and the honour of faith (2 Maccabees 6:18-31) 05/04/2022
Dear elderly brothers and sisters, please look at the young people. The young people are watching us and our consistency can open up a beautiful path of life for them. Hypocrisy, on the other hand, will do so much harm. Let us #PrayTogether for one another. #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
9. Judith. An admirable youth, a generous old age (Book of Judith) 05/11/2022
A long life – so the Bible teaches – is a blessing. The #ElderlyAndGrandparents are signs of the goodness of God who bestows life in abundance. Blessed is the house where an older person lives! Blessed is the family that honours its grandparents! #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
10. Job. The test of faith, the blessing of waiting (Book of Job) 05/18/2022
When we find ourselves faced with evil, we need to learn, from the example of so many older people, to unite our prayer to that of Jesus, who abandons himself to the Father on the cross. #BlessingOfTime @LaityFamilyLife @PontAcadLife @Pontifex
11. Ecclesiastes: the uncertain night of meaning and of things in life 05/25/2022
Rich in wisdom and humour, #elderly people do so much good for the young! They save young people from the temptation of a knowledge of the world that is sad and devoid of the wisdom of life. #BlessingOfTime @LaityFamilyLife @PontAcadLife @Pontifex
12. "Forsake me not when my strength is spent" (Ps 71:9) 06/01/2022
The elderly, in their weakness, can teach those in other ages of life that we all need to surrender ourselves to the Lord, to invoke his help. For God is always our hope and our support. #BlessingofTime @Pontifex
13. Nicodemus. “How can a man be born when he is old?” (Jn 3:4) 06/08/2022
Those who pass through the period of old age can discover a new mission in the light of the Gospel: to be signs and instruments of God's love that indicate what the definitive goal is to which we are called, eternal life with God. #BlessingofTime @Pontifex
14. The joyful service of faith that is learned in gratitude (cf. Mk 1, 29-31) 06/15/2022
The elderly who preserve the disposition for healing, consolation, intercession for their brothers and sisters, are perhaps the greatest witnesses of that gratitude that accompanies the faith. #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
15. Peter and John 06/22/2022
Dependence increases with illness, with old age, and we are no longer self-sufficient like we were before. Faith also matures here. Jesus is also with us here. Here, the wealth of our faith lived well during our journey through life also springs forth. #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
16. “I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn 14:2).
Old age, a time projected towards fulfilment		 08/10/2022
Old age is the phase in life most suited to spreading the joyful news that life is the initiation to a final fulfilment. And the best is yet to come. May God grant us an old age capable of this! @Pontifex
17. The "Ancient of days". Old age is a reassurance regarding the destination to a life that never dies again 08/17/2022
The witness of the elderly unites the generations of life. Same with the dimensions of time: past, present and future. The various ages of life are not separate worlds competing with each other. The alliance of the elderly and children will save the human family. #BlessingOfTime @Pontifex
18. The labour pains of creation. The story of the creature as a mystery of gestation 08/24/2022
As we approach the end of our lives, the essentials of life that we hold most dear become definitively clear to us. Our whole life appears like a seed that will have to be buried so that its flower and its fruit can be born. @Pontifex