MARFAM’S WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER 4 FEBRUARY 2026

Colloquially referred to as “Valentine’s” it has become much more than a day, or a commemoration of a possibly legendary figure, who has become the patron saint of lovers.   Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia stated I think of St Valentine’s Day: in some countries commercial interests are quicker to see the potential of this celebration than are we in the Church!  Pastoral initiatives aimed at helping married couples to grow in love also help their children by preparing them for their future married life. Traditional practices like St Valentine’s Day should not be underestimated. AL 208.” And so the commercial world has captured the idea and extended it to all kinds of areas of life, of family life certainly but more.  People get engaged, get married, give one another gifts and red roses have become an exorbitantly expensive commodity just around the middle of the month. Chocolates aren’t really good for you or your pocket either. An example, I found quite shocking. I heard on radio about the teacher-pupil relationship where the kids who want to be in teacher’s good books are expected to buy their teachers Valentine’s gifts – who pays for that?  parents?

Why not commemorate other events during the month which for MARFAM has the theme LOVE GIVES FAMILIES LIFE.    How does Pope Leo suggest can this be done?   His prayer intention for February: ” Let us pray that children suffering from incurable diseases and their families receive the necessary medical care and support, never losing strength and hope.” That does tie in with another of the February themes – Day of Prayer for the Sick. But looking at the month of love overall here are some idea. .  

1 February was the feastday of Blessed Daswa – a loving family man and school principal, very active in his church and wider community.  His life, faith and sense of justice, rejecting witchcraft still practiced in his remote area, evoked jealousy in others and resulted in his murder on 2 February 1990. In 2015 he was beatified and would be the first South African martyr.  It is hoped that his canonization will follow soon. Let’s celebrate his life and maybe use this focus to help the flood-stricken communities in that part of the country, Limpopo and Venda. With love we can be as community-minded as he was.

February 2 was known as Candlemas, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the purification of his mother after childbirth – a traditional Jewish, cultural event. Let’s celebrate that too. Pope Leo, like Pope Francis, promotes cultural inclusion, as and when appropriate, in family’s faith life.  This day was also the 30th World Day for Consecrated Life.  Pope Leo celebrated a special Mass and praised “consecrated men and women for living out their steadfast faith even in the most difficult of circumstances, and inviting them to be ‘leavens of peace’ and ‘signs of hope.’ Up to 5000 religious men and women, from many different congregations and parts of the world gathered for the special Mass in Rome. Hundreds of thousands commemorated the day at home and in their workplaces.  While joining the Holy Father in his message of praise, it also came to my mind, that irrespective of what the call to consecrated life may have been in previous eras,  one of the calls today is to the service of God’s people and of God.  Religious are called to give praise to God by their lives and support one another, but they are not there just for themselves or even for one another in their congregations.  We are all called to love the poor.

February 8, i.e. the 2nd Sunday of February the month of love, is WORLD MARRIAGE DAY.   This does have the approval of the Vatican, obtained by Marriage Encounter in the 1990s. It shouldn’t be restricted only to  those ME couples, who know they “deserved the weekend experience,” but who keep on working at their marriage relationship and need all the support they can get.  Every parish can offer a blessing and prayer for their marriage couples, for those who are preparing and those who have lost a spouse and still believe in married love.   For the sake of the parish as a whole it can be stressed that marriage is a sacrament of the Church,  one of the seven,  and in my view often a neglected sacrament.  We can all pray that the sacrament will be widely recognized and appreciated as a way of showing Christ to the world. Vatican II stated that marriage is for the couple a further fulfillment of their baptismal vocation and also a reminder of the sacrifice of the cross.   Some blessings and prayers can be downloaded from  https://marfam.org.za/category/uncategorised/family-prayer-activities/

February 8 is also the feastday of St Josephine Bakhita, who is the patron saint against Human Trafficking, having been sold as a slave from childhood in North Africa until she was adopted by a Catholic family and taken to Italy.  Trafficking of people is a major concern in many countries today, a modern form of slavery, and includes sexual, work and refugee issues.     

February 11 is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and commemorated as the 34th DAY FOR THE SICK. Sickness is a very real experience in family life.  Even dealing with small illnesses needs patience and loving care too, but major illnesses,  maybe more common in older age, can become a massive burden.  Pope Leo’s message reflects on the actions of the Good Samaritan, truly a neighbor to the  man who was attacked. He quotes,”Saint Augustine teaches that the Lord did not intend to show us who that man’s neighbor was, but rather to whom he should become a neighbor. No one is truly a neighbor until they freely draw near to another. The one who became a neighbor was the one who showed mercy. Love is not passive; it goes out to meet the other. Being a neighbor is not determined by physical or social proximity, but by the decision to love.  https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/sick/documents/20260113-messaggio-giornata-malato.html. In addition to the special intention for this day,  the Pope’s intention for the month of February is to pray for children suffering from incurable diseases and their families. February 14, has been commented on above and of course is should be celebrated, but within reason. As Pope Leo noted above, the decision to love, can take very many forms.   

February 18 is Ash Wednesday, preceded by Pancake Tuesday, a nice opportunity for families, with its roots in the days when Lent was truly a time of fasting and adopting a simpler life-style. Shrove Tuesday was the time to finish all the good and sweet things and prepare to eat more frugally and make Lent a time of Love and Sacrifice, choosing any number of ways to commemorate that “Love gives Families Life,” MARFAM’S February theme.       

During Lent in this Year of St Francis, reflecting on his life and the ways in which he expressed his deep love for Jesus by his own life’s sacrifices, through love of creation, giving glory and praise to God for and with all his creatures, sharing his peace and spreading joy, are all Lenten opportunities.  The THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY in MARFAM’s 2026 Lent booklet LOVE IS HIS LAW, LOVE IS HIS WAY,  accompany St Francis on his way.   More Lenten suggestions and resources will be available shortly on www.marfam.org.za.   The newly revised MARFAM LENTEN booklet with a FRANCISCAN focus can be ordered from us, from some n bookshops and parishes. Call or whatsapp Toni 0825521275 or   email [email protected] Cost only R30  

So February is really all about love, expressed too in all the ways of the Beatitudes brought to us in the reading of this time.  But Love sure isn’t all about Valentine’s.    

JOIN US ON FAMILY MATTERS ON RADIO VERITAS 10-11 to hear more about it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 4 FEBRUARY. ABUSE OF POWER AND ITS EFFECTS.

4 February.  SEE:   Many of the groups were following the proceedings in the news about the various commissions of enquiry into corruption, fraud and other wrongdoing.  It is said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Kings, presidents, leaders at any level, right down to families, are prone to wielding their power and controlling others.  This can and does lead to conflict, violence and abuse, especially when there is resistance to being abused, and whistle-blowing.  Who is willing to acknowledge their wrongs, their guilt and sinfulness so that other innocent persons need not suffer?   Why or why not?   

JUDGE, reflect and share.  Scripture:  David regretted having taken a census of the people. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned grievously in what I have done.  Take away Lord your servant’s guilt for I have acted very foolishly.” The Lord sent a plague over Israel, then David said to the Lord, “It is I who have sinned. It is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong.  But these sheep, what have they done? Strike me and my father’s family!” Read 2 Samuel 24. Pope Francis. God who wishes to work with us and counts on our cooperation can bring good out of the evil we have done.  The Holy Spirit, who possesses the infinite creativity of the divine mind of God, knows how to loosen the knots of human affairs.  LS 80.   Pope Leo:  On the wounded faces of the poor we see the suffering of the innocent and, therefore, the suffering of Christ himself. At the same time,we should perhaps speak more correctly of the many faces of the poor and of poverty. There are many forms of poverty: the poverty of those who lack material means of subsistence, the poverty of those who are socially marginalized and lack the meansto give voice to their dignity and abilities, moral and spiritual poverty, cultural poverty, the poverty of those who find themselves in a condition of personal or social weakness or fragility, the poverty of those who have no rights, no space, no freedom.  DT 9

ACT AND PRAY:  Honest discussion is needed to heal our society and includes prayer for integrity in our leaders. Where does moral and ethical education happen.