This year on July 24, the Church celebrates the second annual World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Instituted by Pope Francis in January 2021, this day calls us to honor and pray for the elderly in our communities and around the world. Today, we invite you to reflect on these verses about the blessings and calling of the elderly in the kingdom of God.
The Blessings of Age
Proverbs 17:6 – “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their parents.”
Proverbs 20:29 – “The glory of youths is their strength, but the beauty of the aged is their grey hair.”
Job 12:12 – “So with old age is wisdom, and with length of days understanding.”
Psalms 92:12-15 – “The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap, showing that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”
Proverbs 16:31 – “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”
The Duty of Elders to Rising Generations
Deuteronomy 4:9 – “But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.”
Psalm 103:17-18 – “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.”
God Is with the Faithful Forever
Isaiah 46:4 – “Even to your old age I am he, even when you turn gray I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”
Psalm 73:26 – “Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever.”
Psalms 71:17-19 – “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.”