Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little. Luke 7:47
What's REALLY important on Valentine's Day…
By NOW I am sure everyone realizes it is Valentine's Day. There are so many different cards and gifts to give to our special other. But this is not really what Valentine's Day is all about.
February 14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers' holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.
As early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man's rite to passage to the Roman god Lupercus. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged. After eight hundred years of this cruel practice, the early church fathers sought to end this practice. They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier. According to church tradition St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D.
The empire was grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Thus more of capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers. When Claudius became the emperor, he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.
Valentine, a bishop, seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers," and had him arrested. The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the Roman gods, to save him from certain execution. Valentine refused to recognize Roman gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully. On February 24, 270, Valentine was executed.
During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.
As Christians, we recognize that while romantic love is important and powerful for marriage relationships, God's Divine Love never fails, falters or fades. Let's keep God's Divine Love FIRST in our lives and allow that love to inform all our decisions and actions! I love you all.
Prayers for A Divinely Grounded Valentine's Day,
Jim
Dear Lord, YOU are the author of Divine Love. Before anyone ever heard of Valentine's Day, you loved us completely. You make your forgiveness available to us all and in forgiving us of our sin, you free us to love others with your Divine Love. Help us to keep that love in our hearts above all other loves. In Your Holy Name we pray. Amen.