Recently, I received an email from a parishioner who shared with me how troubled she feels about what she’s witnessing going on in our country at the present time. Her daughter’s boyfriend works for the Justice Department in Washington, DC and he says it’s “really bad” there. No one knows what’s coming next.

It’s understandable for people to be on edge when thousands of jobs have been lost, when some of the guardrails that protect citizens are being dismantled.

Recently, I’ve become more aware of the caregivers in our midst who walk among us often unnoticed, but who are providing heroic care in rather challenging circumstances. They include parents and grandparents caring for chronically ill or disabled children; husbands and wives caring for ill, disabled, or dying spouses; grown children caring for elderly parents; relatives, friends, and neighbors providing quiet care and support to disabled people and elders living alone.

Are you aware that the Catholic Church is currently in a Jubilee Year, which will continue until January 6, 2026, the Feast of Epiphany? Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 by opening the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on the evening of Dec. 24. He explains in his Bull of Indiction that the Holy Door is opened “to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ.”

What have you decided to do for Lent? Traditionally, we reflect on what Jesus came to do for us. By suffering and dying on the Cross, Jesus has taken upon himself our sins and the sins of the world, which expresses God’s great mercy and forgiveness. In Lent, we prepare to renew our Baptismal promises at Easter by coming to terms with the ways we have not always renounced evil and sin, and have not put God at the center of our lives. We haven’t always nurtured the gift of our Baptism.

As of this writing, Tue, Feb 25, health updates about our Holy Father, Pope Francis indicate that he is slowly improving from his recent health challenges, although he is not “out of the woods.” He did meet with some Church officials to carry out some of his responsibilities from the hospital. I offer the following for you to use in your prayer for his continued healing.