Activities | History | Nurture

February 2026 magazine

stjohnstmarkchurchburySaturday, January 31, 2026

Our February 2026 magazine will be available in St John & St Mark’s and Christ Church Walmersley from this weekend. A digital version is here:

This month reflects the changing from Epiphany and into Lent with information about our ‘Gravity Defied‘ Lent course, written by Rachel Mann. We also have updates from our groups and organisations, along with another favourite psalm, this time Psalm 46.

In addition, we have this letter from Ian Banks …

Light, love and ashes

This month in the Church year feels unusually crowded. Candlemas, Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent arrive close together, pressing different kinds of meaning into a short stretch of time. And then we have Valentine’s Day too! Light, love and loss stand side by side. And perhaps that is not accidental.

Candlemas marks the moment when the light that arrived at Christmas is carried into the wider world. Simeon takes the child Jesus in his arms and blesses God, speaking honestly of joy and pain held together. “A light to lighten the nations,” he says – and in the next breath warns Mary of sorrow. Candlemas reminds us that light does not banish darkness by denying it, but by entering it.

Almost immediately, Ash Wednesday follows. The priest traces a cross of ash on our foreheads and speaks words we would rather avoid: “Remember that you are dust.” It is a stark movement, from candlelight to ashes, but it is truthful. Lent does not undo Candlemas; it deepens it. The light we carry is not fragile because we are mortal; it matters because we are.

Known and loved

It may seem odd to bring in Valentine’s Day, which is so often reduced to sentimentality, but it rightfully belongs in this conversation. Beneath the cards and roses is a longing to be known and loved. Lent asks what kind of love we are offering and receiving. Is it love that consumes and discards, or love that stays, forgives and tells the truth? Ashes strip away illusion, not affection. They remind us that love worthy of the name will always be costly.

The beginning of Lent is not about self-improvement, but about attention. Attention to God, to one another and to ourselves as we truly are. The disciplines of Lent – prayer, fasting and generosity – are not punishments, but practices that clear space for love to grow more honestly. They teach us how to carry the light of Candlemas through the wilderness without trying to control it.

These days offer a kind of wisdom. Love without truth becomes shallow; truth without love becomes unbearable. Candlemas shows us light that both blesses and wounds. Ash Wednesday teaches us humility without despair. Valentine’s Day reminds us that the heart still longs, even when it is fragile.

From all this, we learn that love and vulnerability are not opposites. Candlemas light, Lenten ashes and Valentine’s longing all speak of a God who draws near in weakness.

Perhaps the invitation is simple: to carry the light gently, to love faithfully and to hold one another with care – trusting that even in illness and uncertainty, God is at work through us, where we are needed most.

Ian