Catholic bishops throughout the U.S. are calling on faithful to pray for Pope Francis, now in critical condition in Rome’s Gemelli hospital amid a week-long battle with respiratory illness.

The Feb. 23 ordination Mass at the Vatican was the culmination of a three-day Holy Year celebration that drew thousands of deacons, plus their wives and others, from more than 100 countries to Rome for communal prayer, discussion and celebration of the diaconate.

Here comes Lent. God gives us this season not just to reflect on Jesus’ life, suffering, and sacrifice for us, but also to offer us a chance to lean on him, to walk with him, and to find ways to open ourselves up to his love.

The Witness to Love approach challenges couples to engage with church teaching and what being married means. It also involves close accompaniment by a practicing Catholic mentor couple — of their own choosing — who shares the couple’s journey to the altar and provides them a “lifeline” of support beyond the wedding day.

When the recent Los Angeles fires forced the local Capuchin Franciscan friars to evacuate, they sought shelter at the Pasadena Convention Center along with hundreds of others.