Let the
words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord.
What
an odd mashing up of days this year – Ash Wednesday on Valentine’s Day. It’s
like the Christian and secular calendars have conspired to play a cruel
practical joke on us with the irony of wanting to enjoy a box of chocolates on
the first day of Lent, a time of fasting and self-denial.
Valentine’s
Day wasn’t always about the chocolate though. There are a number of versions of
the history of Valentine’s Day but the most noted legend is of a Roman priest
who secretly performed marriages for soldiers against the wishes of Emperor
Claudias II, who prohibited his soldiers from marrying. He felt that soldiers
served better without being tied down to a wife and children.
Because
of his willingness to join couples in holy matrimony, Valentine became known as
the “friend of lovers”. When he was discovered, Valentine was imprisoned and executed
on February 14. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 to be a day of
celebration in honor of St. Valentine. Modern day commercialization has turned
the day into what it is now.
Ash
Wednesday marks the beginning of our Lenten season. Lent is a time for
Christians to examine our lives, repent our sins, and be renewed in forgiveness
for our sins through the crucified and risen Christ. It is a day when we reveal
our invisible cross.
When
you were baptized, a priest would have marked your forehead with a cross in
oil. This marking sealed you by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked you as
Christ’s own forever. Ash Wednesday is a special day of the year because we use
the ashes from the previous year’s palms to make that cross appear on our
foreheads once again.
By
making visible again the cross that we received at Baptism, we acknowledge our
impiety, our lack of repentance, our apathy to the suffering in the world. The
imposition of ashes on our forehead is an outward symbol of our repentance and
the renewed visibility of our baptismal cross reminds us of our baptismal
promises.
By
marking ourselves with the sign of the cross to signify the beginning of Lent,
we also honour Jesus’ 40-day trek through the wilderness.
How
strange it is to combine a day of commercialization and overabundance of food,
drink, and of course, chocolate with a day where we begin a fast of such
luxuries.
How
strange it is to combine a day of love with a day where we are acknowledging
the departure of Jesus into the wilderness and the time leading up to his
gruesome death.
So,
can Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday coexist? Can the frivolity of Valentine’s
Day offer anything to the penitence of Ash Wednesday?
There
is one obvious common denominator between the two days…love.
On
Valentine’s Day, we celebrate the love we share with one another, whether it be
with spouse, family, or friends. And tonight, we celebrate our love for God.
In
the reading from the book of Joel, God asks for us to "return to God with
all our heart" and to "rend our hearts".
God
wants to have ALL of us, every piece of us, loving God... as the Almighty gave
it ALL to show love for us. We do that partly by showing God our dedication,
commitment, and love in showing up for Lent – giving up earthly things to focus
on the sacred. Setting aside the chocolate and reveling in the love of God.
And
while it seems that Valentine’s Day is very much a secular custom rather than a
celebration of the life of St Valentine the martyr, there remains a very
Christian message that should be remembered.
Ash
Wednesday points us towards the greatest act of love when Jesus gave up His
life on the cross so that we might be forgiven of our sins. The love of our
Lord Jesus Christ is a sacrificial, selfless, and unconditional love. Jesus
died for us knowing we might never love him back. Such is the love that each
Christian is called to express in their own lives, for God, and for neighbour.
Tonight’s
readings from Joel and from the Psalm speak of the Lord’s steadfast and
everlasting love. In Corinthians, Paul declares us to be ambassadors for
Christ. And never forget what Jesus said in John chapter 15, “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.”
St
Valentine fulfilled this command, and we need to do the same. In a world where
hate, distrust, and violence seem to be on every news channel and every social
media feed, we need to remember Jesus’ commandment and sacrifice of love even
more than ever.
Today,
in honor of the love of Valentine’s Day and the holiness of Ash Wednesday, let
us take Jesus’ message into our hearts and pledge our love to our family, our
friends, and to the stranger, praying for their intentions, promising fidelity
to them, and never expecting anything in return.
Jesus
broke death through love. God sent Jesus to break that death for us because of
God’s love for the world. In our death, we remember that we are loved. We say,
“remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” But we could just as
easily say, “remember you are loved and to love you shall return.”
A
friend provided me with this affirmation that I think applies to us all
tonight: Deep in the center of me flows an infinite wellspring of love that
fills my entire being and radiates out from me in all directions, returning to
me multiplied. I give and receive more love every day and the supply is
endless.
May
you feel an abundance of love tonight and forever.
Amen.
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