Editorial

Like Pope Francis, let’s embrace our crosses during Lenten season

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the square; I accompany you from here. May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.”
—Pope Francis in an audio recording played before the recitation of the nightly rosary for him in St. Peter’s Square on March 6

The heartfelt words that our Holy Father Pope Francis spoke in a 27-second audio message shared in Spanish with those gathered to pray for him on the night of March 6 were a welcome sign.

We believe it did not matter that he had difficulty speaking. Members of his universal flock were no doubt happy and relieved to hear him for the first time since he was hospitalized on Feb. 14 for bronchitis and difficulty breathing. He was soon thereafter diagnosed with double pneumonia, and our pontiff has been battling that and other serious ailments as well, including breathing crises on Feb. 22 and on March 3.

As The Criterion went to press on March 11, the pope was still in Gemelli Hospital. But his condition had improved enough that he was no longer considered in imminent danger from his lung infection. He will remain in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for several more days to continue receiving medical treatment, the Vatican said.

We continue to implore Catholics and people of all faith traditions to pray for our Holy Father’s healing in what is still a very tenuous health crisis.

Not surprisingly, Pope Francis continues to work and also alternate between rest and prayer while in Gemelli. He also continues to regularly receive the Eucharist, the greatest gift of our faith, by which he is fed and sustained by the body of Christ.

Many would agree that his witness and commitment to his vocation as our universal shepherd very much mirrors the example Pope John Paul II set when he was hospitalized in 2005.

In a story published on March 5 in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, retired Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz said that he believes Pope Francis, like his Polish predecessor, continues to serve the Church even from his hospital bed.

When St. John Paul II was bedridden, “voiceless, unable to speak, lacking strength,” he was “serving the Church with heart, soul and clear mind,” said Cardinal Dziwisz, who served as St. John Paul II’s personal secretary from 1966 until the pope’s death in 2005. “And I am sure that Pope Francis, for whose healing .the whole world is praying, will do the same: he will lead the Church as long as God wills, firmly embracing the cross, without any step backward.”

Lent is a season whose penitential disciplines include prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Many of us have chosen specific ways to approach this six-week pilgrimage of faith as we seek spiritual renewal. But our Holy Father is reminding us it is an especially appropriate time to embrace our crosses in life—some we may not have chosen—and to follow Christ.

We need to be responsive to where our Creator wants to take us on this Lenten journey. Carrying those crosses, God willing, will build us up and help us grow in our lives of faith. As our Holy Father said from the hospital over the weekend, “let us commit ourselves to making it a time of purification and spiritual renewal, a path of growth in faith, hope and charity.”

If our challenges become overwhelming, may we stay persistent and reflect on the example we’re seeing from Pope Francis.

Even though he is not speaking in public, Cardinal Dziwisz continued, “[Pope Francis’] voice rises loud and clear over a world beset by clashes and conflicts,” praying for peace, encouraging negotiations and even calling the pastor of Holy Family Parish, the only Catholic church in Gaza.

“Francis is not only our father, he is the highest moral figure who cares about the fate of all of humanity,” the cardinal said. “The whole world needs him. Let us pray that God will grant him the gift of healing and preserve him for us for a long time.”

Let us continue to offer prayers for our Holy Father. Let us follow his example of trusting completely in God and allow the disciplines of Lent to open our hearts and expand them.

May we stand vulnerable in front of our Lord, surrender to him, and be transformed by the grace of God.

—Mike Krokos