Rosary for the Family launched as part of Amoris Laetitia Family Year

A new resource on the Rosary has just been made available. The ‘Rosary for the Family’ was carefully created by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life as part of the ‘Amoris Laetitia Family Year’. This is one of a number of resources that the Dicastery is making available…

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October Ministry Resource now available

We are delighted to bring you our October Ministry Resource which is designed to be used by CGA Ministry Groups for meetings. It can also be shared with Grandparents in your parish as it has some brief snippets on resources of interest. Please feel free to download and share this resource. CGA October 2021 Ministry…

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September Newsletter is hot off the press!

The arrival of September and harvest time signals a new season of the year and for many of us another season of back to routine after the long sunny Summer days spent on various family outings or adventures. Autumn also signifies a change. We see it in the colours around us on crisp September mornings.…

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Reflections from the Grandparents’ Faith Café – Marilyn Henry

To Father Richard, míle buíochas for being with us today and especially for your support and encouragement of Catherine and the CGA through the years. Personally, I’m such a big fan of  yours and I’ve been terrified of following you ever since Catherine asked me to present the reflection today on our theme for this Faith Café – Our…

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Pope Francis encourages participation in the Season of Creation 2021

Pope Francis has called on Catholics to take action for our common home during the Season of Creation which runs from 1 September – 4 October. In the Pope Video for the month of September, he encourages everyone to question the way we live, and to turn “towards lifestyles that are simpler and more respectful…

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John Michael Talbot announced as guest speaker for August Grandparents’ Faith Café

The Catholic Grandparents Association has today announced that John Michael Talbot will be the guest speaker at the August gathering of the Grandparents’ Faith Café on Tuesday 10 August online via Zoom. John Michael Talbot is a multi-platinum selling, Grammy/Dove award winning contemporary Catholic Christian Music pioneer. His music has been the soundtrack to the faith…

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Pope Francis prays with Grandparents and the Elderly

The Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life on Friday released the video version of the prayer for the Catholic Church’s first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on Sunday 25 July in which Pope Francis himself prays with Grandparents and Elders from around the world. “I thank You, Lord, for the comfort…

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Our June Newsletter is now available!

The arrival of the month of June means we will soon mark the one month countdown to the first ever World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on Sunday 25 July. It also means that our June Newsletter is here! In this month’s issue we feature some additional new resources for the World Day for…

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A ‘Celebration of Grandparents’ at the July Faith Café

We are delighted to announce that our Patron, Archbishop Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam,  will be the guest speaker for our Grandparents’ Faith Café on Tuesday 13 July. Archbishop Neary will join us to be part of our celebration of Grandparents in the month in which we celebrate the World Day for Grandparents and the…

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Our May Newsletter is now available!

May is the month of Mary. As I was reflecting on that this past week I was reminded of how often I have placed prayer intentions at her feet and implored her to bring them to Jesus. I am so grateful for the prayers that have gone to her and the blessings that have come…

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Join us for our Grandparents’ Faith Café in June

We are delighted to announce Peggy Stanton as the guest speaker for our Grandparents’ Faith Café on Tuesday 8 June. She will join our monthly Faith Café on Zoom to speak on the theme ‘The Amazing Grace of Grandparents in the Family’. Peggy Stanton is a news correspondent, author, illustrator and painter, who served ABC-TV…

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Reflections from the Faith Café – Deacon Ken Henry

Deacon Ken Henry offered a reflection at the April Grandparents’ Faith Café on the theme of Grandparents as Faith Connectors. You can read his reflection here: When I’m bragging on my grandchildren, I like to say that they’re so much fun, we should have had them first. But with eleven of them, that doesn’t mean…

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Join us for a cuppa at the May Grandparents’ Faith Café

The Grandparents’ Faith Café is a new initiative of the Catholic Grandparents Association which is taking place online once a month over Zoom. The Faith Café is a social and spiritual space for grandparents to meet online once a month to chat, to offer prayers and intentions and to just be together in the spirit…

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CGA Newsletter for April is now available

April is always a season that feels hopeful and this year it arrived with a real sense of purpose for me. We celebrated Easter with its backdrop of blossoming Spring flowers in gardens and parks. Some of the Covid-19 restrictions have also been lifted and we are hopeful here in Ireland of a return in…

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Book of Remembrance

With the upcoming celebration of the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly on 24 July 2022, we wanted to offer a way for parishes to reach out to families who have lost loved ones, particularly grandparents, in the past few years. While the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly is a celebration,…

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March Newsletter just published

My Dearest Grandparents, Great Grandparents and Friends, We are keeping all of you and your loved ones in our prayers as our world is still being impacted by Covid-19. It has been a busy and productive month for the Catholic Grandparents Association and I am delighted to share our March newsletter with you on the day…

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CGA welcomes the launch of Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia Family Year

Today is the day! Pope Francis’ Year of Reflection on the Family begins today – the Feast of Saint Joseph. The Catholic Grandparents Association looks forward to supporting this year and to journeying with families, especially Grandparents and the elderly, as we reflect on Pope Francis’ love letter to families – The Joy of Love…

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The story of the CGA and the World Day of Prayer for Grandparents and the Elderly

The Catholic Grandparents Association (CGA) was founded by Catherine Wiley in 2001. Catherine’s interest in Grandparents – their unique and increasingly important position in family life – dates, unsurprisingly, from the time, when she and her husband, Stewart, became Grandparents themselves. Catherine Wiley and her husband had brought up their children in their family home…

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Archbishop Eamon Martin to be guest speaker at the April Faith Café

The Grandparents’ Faith Café is a new initiative of the Catholic Grandparents Association which is taking place online once a month over Zoom. The Faith Café is a social and spiritual space for grandparents to meet online once a month to chat, to offer prayers and intentions and to just be together in the spirit…

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Ministry Resource for March 2021

The Ministry Resource Leaflet from the Catholic Grandparents Association is now available for March 2021. We invite you to share with your ministry groups, with parishes and with grandparents.  Click here to download the resource leaflet: CGA March 2021 Ministry Resource    

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Join us for a cuppa this March at the Grandparents’ Faith Café

The Grandparents’ Faith Café is a new initiative of the Catholic Grandparents Association which is taking place online once a month over Zoom. The Faith Café is a social and spiritual space for grandparents to meet online once a month to chat, to offer prayers and intentions and to just be together in the spirit…

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Newsletter for February just published

My Dearest Grandparents, Great Grandparents and Friends, We are keeping all of you and your loved ones in our prayers as our world is still ravaged by Covid-19. It has been a busy and productive month for the Catholic Grandparents Association and I am delighted to share our February newsletter with you. Click below to download…

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Living Christian Faith – Lenten Conversations at Knock Shrine

Ash Wednesday falls on 17 February this year and heralds the beginning of Lent 2021. This year Knock Shrine will host a new series of online discussions to help engage Christians during the Lenten Season on the theme of ‘Living Christian Faith – Lenten Conversations’. Chaired by Father Eamonn Conway, a priest of the Archdiocese…

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New Ministry Resource Leaflet

Welcome to the new Ministry Resource Leaflet from the Catholic Grandparents Association. These are short and sweet snippets to resource you and your ministry group which will be published monthly and which we invite you to share with your ministry groups, with parishes and with grandparents.  Click here to download the resource leaflet: CGA Ministry…

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January Newsletter is available now

My Dearest Grandparents, Great Grandparents and Friends,  New Year Blessings to all of you from myself and from all of us in the Catholic Grandparents Association. We are keeping all of you and your loved ones in our prayers as our world is still ravaged by Covid-19. Despite all the restrictions it has been a…

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An invitation to the Grandparents’ Faith Café on Tuesday 12 January

The Faith Café is a new initiative of the Catholic Grandparents Association which is taking place online once a month over Zoom. Launching the initiative last December, Catherine Wiley, Founder of the CGA said, “If the pandemic has taught us anything it has taught us how much we have missed being together in family gatherings,…

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Catholic Grandparents on a Mission to share Faith with their grandkids

This is an article by Carlos Briceño from the diocesan magazine of the Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. You can also listen to a podcast interview with Colleen here To understand members of the Catholic Grandparents Association (CGA) and what their mission is, all you have to do is hear what happens at the…

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December Newsletter

My Dearest Grandparents, Great Grandparents and Friends,  We are keeping all of you and your loved ones in our prayers at this difficult time for so many people who are dealing with many new and different challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite all the restrictions of a global pandemic, it has been a busy…

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Reflections from the Grandparents’ Faith Café – Bishop Denis Nulty

Bishop Denis Nulty was the guest speaker at the December 2020 Grandparents’ Faith Café. You can read his reflection here: One of our diocesan team who became a grandparent for the fourth time recently shared with me: “As a grandparent four times I can honestly that each time is different. The personality of the little…

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Bambinelli Sunday at Home

The Blessing of the Bambinelli (Baby Jesus) is a tradition which began in Rome. Each year on the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday), the Holy Father invites children to bring the Baby Jesus (Bambinelli) from the family Nativity scene to Mass for a blessing. The Catholic Grandparents Association has been encouraging families to take part…

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Share #AGiftOfWisdom with young people this Christmas

“Dear young people,” wrote Pope Francis on the occasion of the 32nd World Youth Day, “you need the wisdom and the vision of the elderly. […] They will speak to you of things that can thrill your minds and fill your hearts”. We are approaching Christmas, when Jesus is born within our families. This year,…

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Bishop Denis Nulty to host the first Grandparents’ Faith Café

Bishop Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, and Chair of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Council for Marriage and the Family, will be the guest host of the first ever Grandparents’ Faith Cafe on Tuesday 15 December. The Faith Café is a new initiative of the Catholic Grandparents Association which will take place online once…

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