Dear All,
St Valentine’s Days falls on a Sunday this year, and so in an attempt to catch the ‘Love is in the air’ mood we invite everyone to renew their wedding vows in church that morning.  And well, it got me thinking about vows and promises, especially those that we have to work at or  whose context  ‘evolve’… just like the our marriage vows…. 
For most of us, I imagine the situation we found ourselves in at the times of making our vows, has developed, or changed over the years, the hints of passion have ebbed and flowed, our circumstances have got easier and harder, for some, maybe the pressures of the world have lead to those vows, said with meaning and conviction at the time, to be shattered; we live in a fallen world, and things go not always as we had hoped or planned…….
That also is the story of Lent, a shattered and broken world, looks for renewal; a world that has been tested to the full, looks for strength to continue; a world working hard to keep in the light, gives thanks for the sustenance, and hope it receives.  As we journey now onwards towards that great festival of light and life, on Easter Day, we are reminded that we go through times of plenty and times of hardship on life’s journey, but the love of God is always there to carry us through. It would be lovely to see you the 14^th February, to give thanks for your own journey, your own story, your own inspiration, which you will be to others, through your love for each other, that reflects that divine love for us all…… to renew that commitment, and to journey on together…. (plus that’s a lot of champagne I will have to drink on my own if you don’t turn up!!) 

With my love and prayers
Fr. John