Pope: Love makes us better, richer and wiser at all ages

Raimundo de Lima – Vatican News

“When you, grandparents and grandchildren, old and young, are together, when you see and hear each other often, when you care for each other, your love is a breath of fresh air that refreshes the world and society and makes us all happy,” Francis said when receiving him on the morning of Saturday, April 27, in the Paul Hall. VI in the Vatican, in a festive atmosphere, grandparents, the elderly and grandchildren, an event promoted: “Stronger, beyond the ties of kinship Etta Grande Foundation.”

The “Care and Smile” meeting, which was attended by many personalities from the world of entertainment, brought together representatives from both generations to promote the elderly and their role in today's world.

It is good to welcome you here, grandparents and grandchildren, young and old. Today we see, as the Psalmist says, how beautiful it is to be together (Psalm 133). Just look at you to realize this, because there is love among you, the Pope emphasized, inviting those present to reflect on this, on the fact that love makes us better, richer and wiser at all ages.

Love makes us better

First: Love makes us better. You also prove that you are mutually better by loving each other. I tell you this as a “grandfather”, with a desire to share the ageless faith that unites all generations. I also received it from my grandmother, from whom I first learned about Jesus, who loves us, who never leaves us alone, who encourages us to be close to each other and never exclude anyone. I heard with her the story of that family where there was a grandfather who was sent away, because he no longer ate well at the table and got dirty, and was left to eat on his own. It wasn't good, in fact it was very bad! The grandson spent a few days repairing hammers and nails, and when his father asked him what he was doing, he replied: “I'm building you a table, so you can eat on your own when you grow up!” My grandmother taught me that, and I've never forgotten it.

Do not forget this too, the Pontiff pointed out, because only by being together in love, without excluding anyone, do you become better and more human!

Love makes us richer

Not only that, you will also become richer. Our community is full of people who specialize in many things, and are full of knowledge and resources that are useful to everyone. However, if there is no sharing and everyone thinks only of themselves, all wealth will be lost, actually leading to the impoverishment of humanity. This is a great danger to our time: the poverty of fragmentation and selfishness. Let us think, for example, of some of the expressions we use: when we talk about “the world of the young”, “the world of the old”, “the world of this and that”… but there is only one world! It is composed of so many different realities so precisely that they can aid and complement each other: generations, peoples and all differences, if in harmony, can reveal, like the faces of a great diamond, the splendor of man and of creation. . This is also what the fact of being together teaches us: not to let diversity create a rift between us! Do not crush the diamond of love, the most beautiful treasure that God has given us.

Sometimes we hear phrases like “Think of yourself!”, “You don't need anyone!”. These are false statements, which deceive people, making them think that it is good not to depend on others, to do it themselves, to live like islands, while these attitudes only lead to a lot of loneliness, the Holy Father continued.

Love makes us wiser

This brings us to the final aspect: love that makes us wiser. Dear grandchildren, your grandparents are the memory of a world without memory, and “when a society loses its memory, it is finished.” Listen to them, especially when they teach you, through their love and witness, to cultivate the most important passions, which are not obtained by force, nor appear by success, but rather fill life.

Finally, before bidding them farewell, the Holy Father left them a powerful piece of advice. Look for your grandparents and do not marginalize them, for your own good: “Marginalizing the elderly (…) spoils all seasons of life, not just old age.” As for you, learn the wisdom of his strong love, but also the wisdom of his fragility, which is a “teaching authority” able to teach without the need for words, the true antidote to hardness of heart: this will help you to savor life as a relationship.