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Dear Friends,
February may be the shortest month of the year, but it is one rich with meaning reminding us that even a brief stretch of time can open the door to renewal.
We begin with Valentine’s Day, a celebration of love in all its forms: the love shared with partners, with family, with friends, and even with those we have yet to meet. It is a moment that gently turns our hearts outward, inviting us to embrace compassion, connection, and kindness.
Then the Winter Olympics captures our attention. These games remind us that even in the coldest places on earth, the human spirit burns brightest. They show us how courage, perseverance, and passion can transform snow and ice into a stage for greatness. This too is a form of love, love for a craft, for community, for the pride of representing something greater than ourselves.
Woven through both of these moments is a single powerful theme: love.
Valentine’s Day teaches us to express it. The Olympics inspire us to embody it—with dedication, discipline, and the joy of shared achievement. And now, Lent invites us to live love more deeply.
Beginning February 18th, Lent calls us to three practices:
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To pray—for ourselves, for our neighbors, and for the world.
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To fast—not only from food, but from mean‑spiritedness, impatience, and division.
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To give—through acts of kindness that bring light to another’s life.
Lent nourishes body, mind, and spirit. It offers us space to reflect, to reset, and to renew our commitment to the values that sustain us.
As we enter this season, may we remember our shared calling:
to love one another,
to feed one another,
to pray for one another.
When we strive to live this way, when love becomes our daily practice, we share the gospel not only with our words but with our lives. And in doing so, we make our community, and our world, a little more hopeful.
With gratitude and joy,
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