Can you believe that it is already the first of February? Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, when we all get to see how much longer out belated winter will last and how much longer these icy storms will pummel us. As memories of winter break fade more and more quickly into our past, and JPW and Spring Break are coming fast around the corner, we can easily get distracted in the quick pace of college life. We're too busy pounding out essays on our keyboards, cramming for examinations and doing a little bit more for the organizations in which we participate.

But in this week and a half before the Lenten season starts, before we allow ourselves to be sucked into the decadence of activities, we need to look at where we are and what we are doing here. We need to stop and examine ourselves, looking at how we live and what we do for ourselves and others.

Today is the feast day of Saint Brigid, the Patroness of Ireland, Muire na nGael (Mary of the Gaels). She looked within herself and found that to truly fulfill herself she needed to become a nun. She founded a convent, which then became the foundation for the Cathedral city of Cill-Dara (Kildare). She cared for the sick and gave money to the poor.

I am not trying to say that, in preparing for Lent and Easter, we must aspire to become a part of the clergy, but rather saying that we must look at that which we have and do our best to use our resources to help others. It is how we look at others, how we see them with our own eyes, that will determine how we interact with them.

At my parish back home, named after Saint Brigid, they have an international food fair on the Saturday closest to her feast day. Not only does it bring the community together, it lets the old and young learn things about people and cultures that they did not previously know. It shows the children how we are all the same on the inside, the basic principle that we are all human, no matter what clothes he wears or what food she eats. This is how my community, my parish, back home celebrates this feast of a giving, loving saint. It gives its children memories to cherish and knowledge that is not biased in anger or hate, but tempered with understanding.

How can we, in the coming weeks before Mardi Gras and during the season of Lent, open ourselves to the understanding of other people? How can we reach out to those who need us? You don't necessarily have to give money or donate things, though those are always appreciated. Sometimes all you need to do is give your time – one of the most precious things you have to give. Listen to someone who's having troubles, play a game of chess with an elderly man, read a book to a little girl who can't yet read. Things done with love and patience help us understand and connect with other people. They help us understand the love that Saint Brigid had for her people and why she gave so much for them.

• Muire na nGael