Bishop Scott Mayer invites us into Lent, which began with Ash Wednesday falling on St. Valentine’s Day.
Watch the bishop’s message as a video.
Read the bishop’s message:
Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day this year, and Easter is on April Fool’s Day. No, God is not messing with us – it’s just an accident of the calendar.
But having Ash Wednesday share a date with St. Valentine does offer a place to start in reflecting on Lent. Love is always a good place to start – even, and perhaps especially, on a day the Church dedicates to reminders of mortality.
Perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of Scripture is John 3:16, which commonly begins “For God so loved the world…” But some translators believe a more accurate rendering is: “For this is how God loved the world, that He gave His one and unique Son, that whoever believes in Him will never perish but have everlasting life.”
This piece of scripture reminds us that love is not just what we feel, it is what we do. In this Lenten season, let us reflect on the way God’s love enfolds us, now and at the hour our death, and on what that love calls us to do and be in and for this hurting world.
Have a blessed Lent.