SW News: Pope Francis said the future is constructed jointly as we share experiences and as young people and the elderly care for one another. He was speaking on Sunday, July 23, which was the 3rd World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. The day for the elderly was observed a week ahead of World Youth Day, set to take place from August 1–6 in Lisbon, Portugal.

The Holy Father said the proximity of the two World Days may offer an invitation to promote a much-needed covenant between generations.

He also called on everyone to once again recognize the great contributions made by grandparents and grandmothers and urged them to never be forgotten.
Pope Francis urged legislators worldwide to implement laws that safeguard the rights and health of the elderly in his sermon at Mass earlier on Sunday in observance of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.  The pontiff said if cultures ignore their seniors and banish them as unprofitable waste, crowded cities run the risk of turning into centers of loneliness.

In his homily, the Pope warned against pursuing efficiency and performance utopias at breakneck speed, lest we lose the ability to calm down and support those who are unable to keep up. He outlined how Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God through parables, using stories to communicate to the listener's heart. The language of the parables is similar to that employed by grandparents to impart knowledge to their grandchildren. The Pope highlighted the value of children and the elderly growing together.

According to the parable of the wheat and the tares (cf. Matthew 13:24–30), good and evil, love and selfishness, intertwined and sometimes inseparable, coexist in human history.

The Holy Father said that a Christian is a realist, who knows that there is wheat and tares in the world, and recognizes that evil does not come only 'from outside', that it is not always the fault of others, that it is not necessary to 'invent' enemies to fight to avoid shedding a little light inside. He realizes that evil comes from within; of our inner struggle.  He claimed that the good wheat sown by God will prevail over the tares with which the devil wanted to infest our hearts.