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The Cardinal’s Column

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.

This is the first week of February, 2008, and, as we watch the snow and cold gradually dissipate, the Church enters into the season of Lent, preparing us for Easter.

On Feb. 11, the church celebrates the 150th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions at Lourdes, France, and reminds us of those who are particularly cared for at the Lourdes grotto, the sick. On the second Sunday of February, we mark World Marriage Day. On St. Valentine’s Day, many Catholics join others in thinking of romance, wonderful as it is, in the context of marriage and family.

A common thread running through all these events is our joining human suffering to that of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice in order to participate in his glory and eternal joy.

Lent: Take time to plan

During the six weeks of Lent, Catholics fast from food on Fridays; pray more assiduously and attend special devotions, especially the Stations of the Cross; and give alms more generously.

Pope Benedict made almsgiving the theme of his Lenten message to the Church this year. The pope calls almsgiving “an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly goods.”

Our hearts are inwardly cleansed when we give to the poor, the hungry, the abandoned. Charity demands interior conversion, because it means we place God and others at the center of our lives. For this reason, “charity covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt 4:8).

Giving alms generously is therefore a penitential exercise that is an important part of our observance of Lent. Everyone should take some time to plan his or her charitable giving during the weeks that are given us to prepare for Easter.

Lourdes: Suffering has meaning

The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes this year marks the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette Soubirous. By freeing her from any taint of sinfulness, God prepared Mary for the task of joining herself entirely to God’s plan for the salvation of the human race through her son, Jesus.

The work of salvation entailed Mary’s emptying herself to be filled with God’s purpose for her, in imitation of Jesus’ self-emptying of his divinity in order to become savior of the world. Mary is free of all sin so that God is entirely free to work in and through her.

Because Mary Immaculate’s shrine at Lourdes has become a place where those who suffer come to be cured in body and spirit, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes each Feb. 11 has become the World Day of the Sick.

Prayer for the sick should include prayers for those who care for the sick in their homes, in hospitals and during pilgrimages to Lourdes. Lourdes is a monument to our belief that suffering is not meaningless but, when offered in union with Christ’s sufferings, contributes to the world’s salvation.

Marriage: A social sacrament

Strengthening marriage is a challenge to the mission of the Church in our country. The bishops have begun a National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage, a multiyear effort to communicate the meaning and value of married life in the Church and for society.

The initiative brings together Catholic teaching and pastoral practice, social science research and the experience of married couples. It will offer guidance and resources, including a pastoral letter, to strengthen marriage.

Frank Hannigan and his staff in the archdiocesan Family Ministries Office are bringing our archdiocese into this national effort.

Many have probably already heard on radio the question, “What have you done for your marriage today?” These public service announcements have been produced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to assist local diocesan efforts.

The Family Ministries Office has also developed ways to help couples deepen their time of engagement and to help newly married couples to grow together. Marriages at risk have found helpful a program called “F.U.T.U.R.E,” Families United Through Understanding Relationships and Empowerment.

Some couples today have no firsthand experience or examples of successful, lifelong marriage.

This program helps them “see” married couples who not only teach skills necessary for marriage but also model them for fragile families. All these programs, in a sense, train people for the self-sacrifice necessary for a successful marriage.

The church’s Code of Canon Law (No. 1056) succinctly explains: “The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility, which in Christian marriage obtain a special firmness by reason of the sacrament.” Married couples who embrace the permanence of their union for a lifetime, even through great challenges, reflect God’s covenantal love for all of humanity. The grace from God that strengthens their resolve in marriage also strengthens the rest of us.

Marriage is not just about a man and a woman. Marriage is a social sacrament; it creates and serves society. Many parishes recognize this fact in designating the second Sunday of February as World Marriage Day. Beginning in Louisiana in 1981 with the name “We Believe in Marriage Day,” this event has spread throughout the world as an expression of the church’s rejoicing in the beauty and grace of marriage.

In 1993, Pope John Paul II blessed this celebration. It gives added depth to the celebration of Valentine’s Day, realistically rescuing it from a sentimentality void of self-sacrifice.

When we empty ourselves of ourselves, God and others fill our personal space. We live then for others as joyful disciples of Jesus Christ. In the Church, Christ’s body, we do this together. May these weeks be filled with Christ’s love for you and those you love.