Faith and Family / Sean Gallagher

Grandparents can do much to shape faith of grandchildren

My grandparents were a big part of my life when I was growing up. I was the youngest grandchild on both sides of the family and by some years. So, when I got to spend time with them, I usually had them all to myself.

My sole living grandfather, Victor Gallagher (my mother’s father died before my parents met) had had a stroke when I was 3 that limited his physical abilities and brought significant changes to his personality, making him far less lively, according to my older relatives.

That didn’t matter to me. Grandpa was just Grandpa since I had no memory of what he had been before his stroke.

I enjoyed keeping score for him when he played horseshoes on his farm, walking with him to get the mail and sharing meals with him and Grandma. In the winter, we’d sometimes watch basketball games on TV, and he’d regale me with stories about how he’d played the game in the 1920s, including the times when he went up against the legendary college coach John Wooden, who grew up one county away from Grandpa.

But what sticks with me most about Grandpa is his faith. When asked why he went to confession on a weekly basis, he simply replied, “Because I’m a sinner.” I remember him teaching me as a young boy how to pray the rosary. When I made mistakes in praying it with him, he’d just smile at me and continue on.

With the help of God’s grace, I try to put the faith at the center of my life and the life of my family, although I know I fall short of that in various ways on a daily basis. But whatever good I’ve been able to do in this regard, I give a good amount of credit for it to Grandpa.

That’s also why I’m grateful for the relationships that my five sons have had with their grandparents. My son Philip, who is now 16, is especially close to my father-in-law, Steve Lecher. They’re both handy around the house and love to work outside, whether it’s caring for the lawn or the garden of Steve and my mother-in-law Edith Lecher, or in helping him cut and split wood. But Philip and Steve also share a deep love for the faith and living it out in a down-to-earth way.

The relationships that I had with my grandparents and those that my sons have had with theirs also make me grateful for our late Pope Francis’ creation of the Church’s World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which is celebrated each year on the Sunday closest to the July 26 feast of SS. Joachim and Ann, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents, according to the flesh, of Christ. This year, the celebration will take place on July 27.

I know from my own experience how formative my grandparents were for me and my faith. And I can see so clearly and am thankful for the many good ways that Steve has helped to shape Philip into a good, hard-working, faith-filled young man.

Our loving, provident God makes grandparents and grandchildren gifts to each other. The blessings he bestows on them go in both directions.

And, as a parent standing in the middle between these two generations, I simply am filled with wonder as I watch the love between them replay in their own unique way the love I knew in my relationship with my grandparents.

So, parents, do what you can to foster loving, faith-filled relationships between your children and their grandparents. You’ll surely be touched by the grace that will flow abundantly between them. †