O sweetest Love, Your grace on us bestow;
Set our hearts with sacred fire aglow
That with hearts united we love each other,
Ev’ry stranger, sister, and brother.
Lord, have mercy! 

(Lutheran Service Book 768:2)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The sweet love that is the Holy Spirit sets our hearts on fire to love not only God but to love each other.

That love is liberal in that it is both freeing and generous as it is grounded and founded in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Loving stranger, sister, and brother happens when our Father’s name is hallowed, when His kingdom comes, and when His will is done.

The crucified, risen, ascended, and returning Christ who has saved us from sin and death through His death on the cross and His glorious resurrection brings us life by His extravagant grace and calls us to love just as He loves.

Despising that which is false and vile, we embrace that which is true and noble because Christ Jesus the Truth has embraced us by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.

The transformative, sacrificial love that finds us and names us in Holy Baptism, forgives us in Holy Absolution, feeds us in the Holy Eucharist, and encourages us in the holy gathering of mutually encouraging sisters and brothers gives us the abundant joy of reaching out to strangers as one Body in Christ.

We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19 ESV).

It is in this love, then, that the anticipation of Advent, the wonder of Christmas, the penance of Lent, and the victory of the Paschal mystery find their fulfillment in Pentecost—the Word Made Flesh comes into our flesh so that we may bring to others that which He continues to bring to us: love.

We join Saint Augustine in prayer:

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen

I pray for you. I also pray with you as we pray to the Holy Spirit together so that we may continue “Making Disciples for Life” by “Engaging the World with the Gospel of Hope” as we do so in love.

Peace and hope in Christ Jesus,

Bishop Taylor