Archbishop Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam has said that,
“Grandparents have both the opportunity and responsibility to establish a
tone for generations to come. They have a greater perspective, more
experience and appreciation of life’s profound rhythms which are all
part of a wisdom that needs to be shared.”
The Archbishop was speaking at the Mass in Knock Basilica for the
annual Catholic Grandparents Association (CGA) Pilgrimage to Knock.
This
year’s pilgrimage marked 10 years of CGA pilgrimages to Knock.
In his homily, Archbishop Neary said, “Many of us
have enjoyed the recent Olympics. Did you notice the way in which the
relays demanded so much from each runner – that they run to their
potential, be careful to hand on the baton at the right moment, with
precision in timing. Likewise, the faith depends on each generation if
it is to be handed on to the next generation. In many way I feel that
this is what grandparents have been doing all their lives. They have
received the faith from their parents, have passed it on to their
children who in turn have now passed it to their own children.
“We acknowledge that faith, family and community are important for
society. The neglect of one has its influence on the other. Today,
children are born into a world of rapid change, in economics, politics
and technology. More than previous generations, children today need
stability zones.”
Archbishop Neary said that living in an age of hectic activity we try
to meet deadlines, cope with various pressures from different sources.
He said, “Success is frequently the criterion used to establish the
identity of people – moving up the ladder, acquiring property, having
power and prestige. The temptation is to take our sense of worth from
our achievements rather than from who we are. Society demands that we
achieve, produce and contribute in an identifiable way.
“In this context we need courage to make judgements, to commend some
ways of life and point to the deficiencies of others. Do we ever ask
ourselves the question “what sort of world do we wish to give our
children and our grandchildren”?
When Moses addressed the people of God
on the borders of the promised land, he didn’t speak about liberation
or about a golden future, a land flowing with milk and honey. He didn’t
speak of the difficulties and challenges that lay in the future. But
rather he spoke about parents and children and the duty to hand the
story on to future generations. By implication, he was also including
grandparents. As Christians, we do this in a particular way as we tell
the story of God’s relationship with us and listen to it when we
celebrate the Eucharist.”
Archbishop Neary went on to say that, “The ever increasing demands of
work means that people have less time to spend on relationships –
children, parents, grandparents and friends. When the wider society is
no longer conversive with or supportive of our values, we recognise the
importance of education which values our ethos. We do not want our
children to be taught that every difference of behaviour reflects an
equally valid lifestyle. Many parents do not want a massive divergence
between their children’s values and their own. They do not want moral
values undermined by a secular, sceptical and cynical culture.
“We assume that cultural and historical changes are primarily
responsible for the decline in the numbers of young people participating
in organised religion today. However, this is not the full story.
Recent studies have shown that religious continuity is very strong where
you have an emphasis on the family and particularly on the importance
of strong emotional bonds within families. Parents with more warmth and
close ties to their children have been found to be more successful in
passing on religious faith. Significantly, it has been discovered that a
father’s emotional accessibility and religious participation are hugely
crucial in this respect. This underlines for us the importance of
grandparents to faith transmission and particularly the role played by
the grandfather in this respect.”
Archbishop Neary said, “Today, there is an urgency about lighting a
candle of hope in what many consider to be a dark world. In the Book of
Genesis the first question that God asks of humankind was “where are
you”?
This very question is addressed to us. Grandparents are
essential in helping us to answer that question and provide us with a
road map of where we have come from, where we are now and where we are
heading. Grandparents have that overview of life. They have come
through the time when life was dominated by the headaches, pressures and
concerns of making a living, running a household, meeting schedules and
measuring up to the demands of an achievement culture. They have
acquired that ability to stand back and see things in perspective.
The
God in whom they believe is a God of surprises but someone who is there,
who has a sense of humour and who believes and puts his trust in
everyone he has created – grandparents, parents and children. On the
other hand, grandparents learn so much from their grandchildren –
perhaps it is a case of re-learning something of the innocence which
they had once known but have tended to forget in the maze of life and
are now in the position to admire and applaud it. At times we, as
adults, are challenged by the simplicity, innocence and trust which are
manifest in children but also the profundity which expresses itself in
comments like who does God play with?, does God have many friends?”
Concluding his homily, Archbishop Neary said, “the family is the
foundation of society. When we reflect on how faith is passed on from
one generation to the next, surely parents, grandparents, educators and
religious leaders bear a heavy responsibility. They must communicate
and share with their grandchildren a sense of joy, excitement and
gratitude.”