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Grandparents Day

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World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly: September 8, 2024

The second Sunday of September is designated as Grandparents Day and falls on September 8 this year.  Although it is a secular “holiday,” the occasion provides the opportunity to honor grandparents much like we do mothers and fathers in the spring.  As Pope Francis reminds us, grandparents “are the living memory of the family.  They pass on the faith…” (Festival of Families, Philadelphia, 2015.)

Grandparents play an essential and important role in the family. The purpose of this special day is to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children, and to help children become aware of the faith, information, and guidance older people can offer.

Please consider taking advantage of this ready-made “holiday” to honor grandparents- those living and deceased- at your Sunday Masses for September 8.  

Suggested ways to honor grandparents

  • Publishing the Prayer for Grandparents written by Pope Benedict XVI in your September 8 Bulletin (Click to download in Spanish & English) https://www.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org/popes-prayer/
  • Offering the masses in honor of grandparents, both living and deceased

  • A prayer intention during the Universal Prayer such as:

    For all grandparents, those present and those far away, that the Lord will look on them with love and protect and support them and may He grant that all families may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland, we pray to the Lord….

  • A special blessing for grandparents at the end of mass such as:

    Lord God almighty, bless our grandparents with long life, happiness, and health.
    May they remain constant in your love and be living signs of your presence
    to their children and grandchildren.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.            

    (Excerpt from Blessing for Grandparents sourced at www.USCCB.org) https://www.usccb.org/prayers/blessing-grandparents

Let us thank God the Father for all our grandparents and their positive influence in our lives.

 

Click here to download this Letter from Beth Zanotelli, Family Life Coordinator.

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