“The rhythms of old age are an indispensable resource for grasping the meaning of life marked by time,” Pope Francis said in his general audience, and so spending time with our elders is not just a “waste of time.”

In his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis spoke against a “culture of waste” that relegates the elderly to the sidelines and discourages young people from learning the wisdom of older generations.

Dating as a young-adult Catholic in non-pandemic times was hard. Covid-19 isolation made it harder. It also gave me a new perspective.

My little family is living proof of the fact that change is possible. My grandparents went from fury to admiration of my parents’ love, and from shame to pride in their mixed race grandchildren.

In his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis remembered parents of children with different sexual orientations, with illnesses, who are struggling at school, and said, “Never condemn a child.”

In an interview with the Vatican’s media outlets, the pope focused on the theme of “paternity” and how St. Joseph is an important example for fathers, the church and families.