Back in 2017, when I was new to New York, I was driving to Brooklyn one afternoon and was about to enter the Brooklyn Tunnel. You know how sometimes they open the opposite side to ease traffic? The cones had been moved. The entrance looked open. It seemed convenient. So I started to drive in. But something didn’t feel right. It was too quiet. No cars. No movement. I slowed down. And then I heard a traffic controller shouting behind me, “Stop! Stop! Turn around! Come back!” I

Today I was on a flight to Vienna. Everything was smooth and peaceful, until suddenly it wasn’t. The plane hit turbulence. The aircraft began to shake. You could feel it in your seat. You could sense it in the cabin. People stopped talking. Some held their armrests a little tighter. Whenever that happens, the same thoughts pass through everyone’s mind: “Is everything okay? Are we safe?” What stayed with me was this: the pilot did not come over the speaker, sounding anxious. H

Love is what makes Lent from being a routine and turns it into a living encounter. Without love, Lent becomes a checklist, things we have to do, rules we have to follow. But when love is at the center, Lent becomes a journey of the heart.   Tomorrow we’ll step into the holy season of Great Lent, where we are called to increased Prayer, fasting, and generosity. They are not obligations forced upon us. They are pathways where love grows, deepens, and finds expression in our eve