Submitted by Father Peter Ullrich osb Pastor St Paul the Apostle,Tarkio, Mo.
In just another week the calendar will turn to February 14. This year two things coincide on the same day. February 14 is always Valentine’s Day. And this year February 14 is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Season of Lent. So what is one to do?
Valentine’s Day is associated with sending gifts and special greetings to people one loves. Those gifts can range from simple homemade cards, to expensive jewelry (for a very few), to bouquets of roses, and a box of chocolates.
Ash Wednesday is a fast day in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. That means no eating between meals, no meat, and pretty clearly for most – no chocolates. Many attend Mass on this day and receive ashes on the foreheads. Other Christian traditions have adopted some of these penitential practices.
Valentine’s day is just one day. The Season of Lent is 40 days, a time of preparation to celebrate Easter. What is at the heart of each day? LOVE. Both center on Love. Lent draws our attention to focus of God’s LOVE for us. It is a time of prayer, fasting, and works of charity, all to focus our minds and hearts on the truth of God’s LOVE. “God so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Every year this springtime season helps us focus on the gift of LIFE, new LIFE, and the great LOVE of God for us all, as shown and poured out in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Valentine’s Day grew over the centuries, with both pagan Roman and Christian influence. St. Valentine was a priest and bishop in the early centuries of the church in Rome, living during the time of persecutions, and the facts of his life are not completely certain. He was known to perform the marriages of young Christians. By our time, many of the practices have drifted far from any Christian beginnings. But suffice it to say that celebrations of LOVE necessarily need to have a Christian component. After all GOD is LOVE and LOVE is of GOD.
Clearly, St. Valentine showed such love, bearing witness to the faith in his dedication as a priest and in the offering of his own life in martyrdom. On this Valentine’s day, looking to the example of this great saint, each person should offer again his love to the Lord, for only by doing so can he properly love those who are entrusted to his care and any other neighbor. Never forget Jesus said, “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:12-13). St. Valentine fulfilled this command, and may we do the same. (Catholic Resource Center, article by Fr.William Saunders)
So… remember the Love of God. And let’s begin the days of preparation to celebrate God’s love at Easter.