Our Grandparents Help us on Our Journey to Sainthood

Growing up I was blessed to live pretty close to both my grandparents on my mom and dad’s side of the family.

My parents met in high school in the early 70s, and were actually just a few blocks apart. Their parents continued to live in their homes in north Minneapolis, and visiting them was a regular part of my life from when I can first remember on up through seminary.

On the one hand like so many people, there are great memories. My grandpa Henry had an incredible imagination and would make stories come alive for me. My grandma Pat made incredible chocolate chip cookies, and I always enjoyed sugar overload when visiting her. My grandpa Henry would also take me on rides in his Caprice Classic; my grandpa Mike his Buick LeSabre, and there were no car seats but I was given the freedom to ride on the arm rest. Grandpa Mike was a deputy sheriff; so I got his old hat to wear. He also was a TV repairman, so had old TVs in the basement along with some very cool equipment. My grandma Evelyn would often walk with me up to a train yard (Humboldt Yard) where we’d watch Soo Line and Milwaukee Road locomotives roll on by, (which fostered a love for trains I still have, recently spending an entire day chasing the Canadian Pacific Steam Train as it headed through the state back to Calgary). Needless to say there are many more memories that would fill many pages in this space.

However from my grandparents I also learned a lot about my faith.

I’d often see my grandparents pray in the morning or evening when visiting. They’d faithfully go to church. And as I became more aware of things, they would explain the faith to me such as what happened at Mass, the meaning of the prayers, and pray with me. I’d even offer a mock “Mass” wearing grandpa’s bowling shirts (complete with different colors for the liturgical calendar!), using bread, juice of some kind, with the altar being the hi-fi stereo and turntable. As I got older, they also gave me prayer books that they had collected. I’d also of course see them live out the faith with how they treated me and our family and how they cared so much for other people.

This past Friday, our Church has the feast day of Saints Joachim and Anne, who were the parents of Mary. We know very little about them, and also do not know if Jesus had the chance to meet them. But traditionally we’ve honored them as the patron saints of grandparents. Our Gospel from this past Friday was from Matthew 13: 18-23, which tells the parable of the seed growing on rich soil being the one who hears the word of God and understands it, and bears fruit. How many simple things do our grandparents do to really help those seeds grow.

First and foremost, to all of our grandparents, thank you so much. We have a vibrant grandparents ministry program here at Saint Joe’s, and each year in our school we have grandparent’s day. I often see grandparents too with grandchildren at Mass, and never forget the role you play in helping the faith grow in your grandchildren.

Second, the reason I mention in the title to this week’s column that my grandparents help me on my journey is that as I say often, I am striving to continually grow in holiness. I’m a work in progress. I look back on the great memories, my grandparents help me move ahead too. All of my grandparents have left this earth. But they live on forever in the love of God in His Kingdom, and we are still connected; they pray for me, and I also look to the example of their lives as a reminder that I can strive for holiness as they lived out their lives. I can be more patient, more tolerant, more caring, more prayerful, more charitable. I look at them and pray for them daily, but also think of them when I look at the old photos or items passed down that are now at the rectory that they made or once had, and I am inspired to try to grow in holiness. I know they are in my corner and always will be.

In all of us, we are striving to have the faith grow. It begins with birth and the Spirit blesses us at our Baptism. And it’s people in our lives who can do so much to help that faith grow. Grandparents do more than just give a 5 year old a magical place where the rules get bent more often than at home. They help us learn what it truly means to live out our faith; to love one another as I have loved you, and to help those seeds grow and bear so much fruit.

Have a very blessed week,  ~Fr. Paul

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July 2024