Sunday July 26th Seventeenth Sunday In Ordinary Time Year A Gospel of Matthew

World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly
After Communion, we will pray together this prayer, composed by Pope Benedict XV1

Lord Jesus,
you were born of the Virgin Mary,
the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne.
Look with love on grandparents the world over.
Protect them. They are a source of enrichment
for families, for the Church and for all of society.

Support them as they grow older,
may they continue to be for their families
strong pillars of Gospel faith,
guardians of noble domestic ideals,
living treasuries of sound religious traditions.
Make them teachers of wisdom and courage,
that they may pass on to future generations the fruits
of their mature human and spiritual experience.
Lord Jesus,
help families and society to value the presence
and role of grandparents.
May they never be ignored or excluded,
but always encounter respect and love.
Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed
in all the years of life which you give them.
Mary, Mother of all the living,
keep grandparents constantly in your care,
accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage,
and by your prayers, grant that all families
may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland,
where you await all humanity
for the great embrace of life without end.
Amen!

Wednesday 29 th : Ss Martha, Mary and Lazarus welcomed Jesus as a family friend. Martha offered him hospitality. Mary listened attentively to his words and Lazarus emerged from the tomb at the command of the One who defeated death.

Friday 31 st : St Ignatius of Loyola 1491-1556 founded the Society of Jesus. His great theme was the service of God and God’s greater glory. The experience of his own conversion led to his writing of the Spiritual Exercises.

Saturday 1 st : St Alphonus Liguori, 1696 – 1787, founder of the Redemptorist Congregation, taught much on moral theology and the spiritual life. He is remembered as a popular preacher and influential writer of theology.