Saint John Bosco was the youngest son to Piedmontese peasants. He studied theology at Turin. After ordination, he served the dislocated people who came from the countryside and found themselves adrift in a setting of heavy urbanization and industrialization. In 1854, in a very anti-clerical setting, he founded the Salesian Order, named after St. Francis de Sales. It focused on creating solutions for displaced youth. He developed vocational training programs with evening classes and apprenticeships. Eventually, these grew to include schools. To help staff them, he collaborated in the founding of Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and organized an active group of lay “co-operators.” St. John Bosco was canonized in 1934.[1][2]

Last week, the Vatican released Pope Francis' message for the 31st World Day of the Sick, celebrated each year on February 11, the liturgical memorial of
Our Lady of Lourdes. The Holy Father's message is entitled: "Take care of him" - Compassion as a synodal exercise of healing. (Click Here) In light of the Church's synodal journey, Pope Francis invites us "to reflect on the fact that it is precisely through the experience of fragility and illness that we can learn to walk together according to God's style of closeness, compassion, and tenderness."

The World Day of the Sick resonates well with the recent CCCB publication on palliative care entitled Horizons of Hope (Click Here) which highlights the Compassionate Community approach. We encourage you to discover this program at a local level.

In addition, the CCCB Office for Family and Life has gathered and developed some resources to promote World Day.  A Google Drive folder is now available to support communications in your parish. The folder includes the CCCB press release that will be issued later today, the Holy Father’s message, a video on the experience of accompanying a loved one through palliative care, graphics for social media, and prayers for families and parishes.