love and ashes

Today we read about Jesus's resurrection. And what a day to read about it. Today is both Ash Wednesday and Valentines Day. Which is really strange to anyone who isn't Catholic. BTW, you can listen to the OT reading HERE and the NT reading HERE.

It's not weird to us Catholics just because St Valentine wasn't a cute little cupid baby with an arrow who went around shooting people and making them fall into romantic love with others. St Valentine was actually a hard core follower to the risen Jesus, whose resurrection we read about today. St Valentine was right at home with ashes, and eventually he put his life on the line and was ultimately beheaded for his faith in God.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with romantic love. God created it. You might even say God experiences it toward us. But the kind of love that St Valentine demonstrated was the kind of love that begins in ashes, like our lenten journey does today, and ends at the resurrection, where we know Valentine ended up meeting with Jesus, because he is now a saint.

Thank You, God, for all the forms of love that we celebrate today.