LOVE IS THE LANGUAGE SPOKEN HERE

February 2, 2026

Beloved,

St. Luke's has a long and storied history of standing up and working for justice for all people. I’m sharing the following video of several Episcopal bishops, including our own bishop, The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, and our Assistant Bishop, The Right Reverend Eugene Taylor Sutton, speaking about recent immigration enforcement practices because it touches directly on promises we make as Christians, and as Episcopalians, in our Baptismal Covenant.

In the Baptismal Covenant, we promise to respect the dignity of every human being and to strive for justice and peace among all people. Those promises do not give us a single political position, nor do they remove the complexity of issues like immigration, border security, or law enforcement. Faithful people can, and do, hold a wide range of views about how best to order our common life.

What concerns these bishops, and what concerns me, is not the existence of law enforcement or borders, but the use of excessive force, dehumanizing rhetoric, and violence that erodes public trust and treats some lives as less worthy of care than others. When dignity is compromised and fear replaces accountability, the church has a responsibility to speak up, not as a political party, but as a moral witness shaped by the Gospel.

This video is not offered as a demand for uniform agreement or a call to partisan allegiance. It is an invitation to reflection, prayer, and discernment.

The bishops themselves say they do not presume to speak for everyone or prescribe only one response. Rather, they speak out of grief, righteous anger, and steadfast hope trusting that our shared faith can help us wrestle honestly with hard questions.

I offer this video in that same spirit, trusting that we can listen carefully, disagree respectfully, and continue the work we promised at baptism: to seek Christ in all persons, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to stand for the dignity of every human being.

Faithfully,

John +

Striving for Justice & Peace & Respecting the Dignity of Every Human Being

RESOURCES FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

As part of an effort to broaden the scope of this newsletter, I plan to introduce you to a variety of spiritual resources that have touched my heart, invited prayerful reflection, and deepened my faith.

I want to begin by sharing a powerful podcast conversation I heard this week I believe will be worth your time to listen to and reflect on.

It’s an episode of Wild Card, hosted by Rachel Martin, a program you can find on National Public Radio.

This particular episode features a wide-ranging, deeply human conversation with Oprah Winfrey. This struck me not a celebrity interview in the usual sense; it’s more like testimony.

Using a deck of question cards, Martin invites Oprah to reflect on her childhood, faith, suffering, freedom, vocation, and what it means to live a life that matters. Oprah speaks candidly about growing up in poverty, learning to trust God when human protection failed, and discovering over time that nothing in her story was wasted.

One line stayed with me:

• “Nothing is wasted. Not one single thing is wasted.”

Near the end, Oprah is asked how she believes her life should be judged. Her answer echoes something Maya Angelou once told her: a life is not finally measured by titles, achievements, or recognition, but by the lives it has touched.

I believe that question sits close to the heart of Christian faith. It's a question I have been sitting with for quite a long time. I invite you to prayerfully reflect on it, too:

• How do you believe your life should be judged?

The conversation with Oprah also touches honestly on shame, inner “noise,” and what freedom feels like when there is finally room inside you again creating space for gratitude, clarity, and compassion.

I encourage you to listen. The episode runs about an hour and can be found on Youtube with lots of other Wild Card interviews, by searching “Wild Card Oprah Winfrey.” I have posted the video below.

In the coming weeks, I will share with you writings and talks from others who have touched my heart and Spirit and inspire me to deepen my faith, my compassion, and to grow.

As you listen this interview with Oprah Winfrey, you might hold one more simple question:

• What in your own life is asking to be seen differently, not as wasted, but as part of your becoming?

If you do listen and feel moved, I’d love to hear what stayed with you. Often that’s where the Spirit is already at work.

RECORDING OF SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 ZOOM ~ MORNING PRAYER

The sermon begins at timestamp 24:14.

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany – Year A

February 1, 2026

An Online Service of Morning Prayer

Lectionary Readings:

• Micah 6:1-8
• Psalm 15
• 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
• Matthew 5:1-12

Theme

Peace as a gift to be received and embodied, not achieved or enforced.

God’s peace takes root in lives shaped by justice, kindness, humility, and faithful presence rather than power, performance, or certainty.

Key Points

• Peace is a gift before it is a goal.
• The Collect’s simple prayer, “Grant us your peace,” reminds us that peace is received through grace, not manufactured through control or success.
• God desires relationship, not performance.
• Through Micah, God rejects bargaining and spectacle in favor of a way of life grounded in justice, kindness, and humility.
• Faith shows up in everyday integrity.
• Psalm 15 insists that holiness is lived out in how we speak, keep our word, and treat others, especially when no one is watching.
• God works through vulnerability, not dominance.
• Paul reminds us that the cross looks foolish by worldly standards, yet reveals God’s power through weakness, mercy, and love.
• The Beatitudes reveal where God already is.
• Jesus blesses those who remain open, tender, grieving, hungry for righteousness, and committed to peacemaking.
• Peace spreads through faithful witness, not force.
• The quiet pilgrimage of Buddhist monks walking from Texas to Washington shows how lived peace draws others without argument or spectacle.
• Our Baptismal Covenant shapes our response to suffering.
• In times of violence and unrest, we are called not to look away, but to mourn, pray, and honor the dignity of every human being.
• The Eucharist embodies God’s peace.
• At the table, peace is not explained but given, received as bread and wine, a life poured out in love.

Questions for Reflection

• Where in my life am I trying to achieve peace rather than receive it as a gift?
• What might “doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly” look like in my ordinary, daily relationships?
• Whose suffering have I been tempted to turn away from this week?
• What kind of peacemaking is Jesus inviting me into, not avoidance of conflict, but faithful presence within it?
• Where do I sense God calling me to remain open rather than hardened?

Invitations to Action

• Practice attentive presence.
• Slow down enough this week to truly see and listen to someone you usually pass by.
• Choose one costly kindness.
• Offer an act of mercy that costs you time, attention, or comfort.
• Pray daily for guidance.
• Begin each day with the simple prayer:
• “God, show me where your peace is needed today, and how I might take part in it.”
• Live your baptismal promises.
• Seek justice, honor dignity, and refuse to let suffering become normal or invisible.
• Receive before you act.
• Come to the table and allow God’s peace to nourish you, trusting that transformation often happens step by step.

ADULT FORMATION

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 - 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

ADULT DINNER FORUM IN THE PARISH HALL

Born to Love Greatly

Following up with Conversation,

Community Reflection & Discussion with Samier Mansur

What is Love, really?

What does it mean to give your heart fully to those you love, to your purpose, to the world? Why do so many of us repeat painful patterns in relationships, struggle with feelings of unworthiness, or feel afraid to love freely?

Born to Love Greatly is an evening of reflection, conversation, and guided experience that invites you to move beyond cultural myths of Love and reconnect with love as inseparable from who you are. Building on a talk given in December, this gathering offers space to explore these questions more deeply through shared inquiry, small-group reflection, and an experiential meditation and prayer to encounter and express unconditional Love within.

Together, we’ll explore how Love can shift from something we seek or fear losing into something we eternally stand in, healing old patterns and opening the possibility of loving greatly, without condition.

What to expect:

• A recap of the core insights from December’s workshop
• A welcoming, confidential space to explore love, self-worth, forgiveness, and old patterns
• Small-group reflection prompts to help you apply the ideas to your own life
• A closing experiential meditation and prayer to encounter unconditional Love within

STATIONS OF THE CROSS

EUCHARIST & DINNER

• Tuesday, February 24 - 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm ~ Stations of the Cross, Eucharist & Dinner (Parish Hall)

• Tuesday, March 3 - 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm ~ Stations of the Cross, Eucharist & Dinner (Parish Hall)

• Tuesday, March 10 - 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm ~ Stations of the Cross, Eucharist & Dinner (Parish Hall)

• Tuesday, March 17 - (St. Patrick's Day) ~ 6:00 pm - - 8:00 pm ~ Stations of the Cross, Eucharist & Dinner (Parish Hall)

• Tuesday, March 24 - 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm ~ Stations of the Cross, Eucharist & Dinner (Parish Hall)



• Tuesday, March 31 - 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm ~ Stations of the Cross, Eucharist & Dinner (Parish Hall)