EACH YEAR, JSERRA Catholic High School honors the grandparents of its students with a special Mass, followed by lunch and other festivities.
The latest Grandparents Day Mass and celebration held on Oct. 16 was JSerra’s most successful ever, with nearly every seat in the 2,000-seat gymnasium filled with students, parents, school officials and of course, grandmothers and grandfathers.
“It’s just exploded and it’s super exciting to see that much enthusiasm for not only being with your grandkids, but being at Mass with your grandkids,” said Pat Reidy JSerra’s vice president of mission and faith. “We realize it’s very important that our students know that we see the value of them not only interacting with their grandparents, but having their grandparents influence their lives in a spiritual sense as well as in a practical everyday sense.”
The celebration also provides an opportunity for the grandparents to see what everyday life is like at JSerra for their grandchildren, Reidy said.
Reidy also said it is important to dispel the belief that elder members of the community have little to contribute to the younger generation.
“The opposite is true,” he said. “If you’ve walked around the block 35 times and someone else walked around the block 10 times, you probably would have observed more than that person would have. You have just walked around the block a few more times.”
Gary and Helen Salas, grandparents of junior Peyton Salas, made the drive from Los Angeles to the JSerra campus in San Juan Capistrano.
“I love it,” Helen Salas said. “I love the Mass. I love to meet her friends. She’s a junior, so I only have one more Grandparents Day left.”
Peyton said her grandparents are “su-per involved” in all aspects of her life.
“They’re really my only two grandparents,” she said. “They’re always with us. They’re always at my tennis matches. So, it’s great having them around.”
As a member of Caritas Christie (Love of Christ), a service group at JSerra, senior Wyatt Boyd ushered many grandparents to their seats for the Mass and assisted during Communion.
This was the first year Boyd’s grandparents, Patti and Willis Boyd, attended the event and the first time they attended a Catholic Mass.
“I wanted to show them how it is,” Boyd said. “I’m super grateful to have my grandparents here. I know they love and support me.”
“It’s really exciting to be part of Wyatt’s life because he’s done so well here,” Willis Boyd added.
Patti Boyd said her grandson is “an incredible human being.”
“We are so honored to have him as our grandson,” she said.
And while it’s important to tap into the life experiences of the older generation, Reidy said, it’s equally vital for grandparents to see how vibrant young people are, especially at Mass.
“They realize that God is alive, Jesus is still with us, and he’s working in the hearts of young people, and they are responding with great enthusiasm and energy,” Reidy said. “I say, yes, there’s a lot to be hopeful about in this generation.”