Valentines Day 2010

Below is my Valentine's Day Sermon:

The origin of St. Valentine, and how many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a temple priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

Saints are not supposed to rest in peace; they're expected to keep busy: to perform miracles, to intercede. Being in jail or dead is no excuse for non-performance of the supernatural. One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentine restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. Another legend says, on the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

Valentine’s day is not necessarily a day for lovers, or a day for those who are partnered, it is a day for all of us. Valentine himself was a celibate man, who never had a partner. When Pope Gelasius I, established the feast of Saint Valentine, of the Saint he said “he was among those whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God."

How appropriate. Isn't that a good way to define love? There are those people in our lives who we "name" as people we "love". Weather they be friends, lovers, partners, family, or whatever role they play. But citing them as people we love doesn't cut it, it's the ACTS that make it love, and often it's those acts that are known only to God. The sacrifices that we make for them, the hidden actions that the loved one will never know are what establish the covenant of love.

The love of God for us is reflected in our love for one another, which is an ontological reality that transcends race or creed, gay or straight, religion, or anything else. It's a reality that we all share weather we are partnered or single. Valentine's day is everyone's day because it's not about candy and flowers, or hallmark cards, or fancy dinners. It's about the sacrifice of a man in the name of God's love, which he shared with others.

Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross is perfect expression of love, and His torture and passion he endured for us, is pointed to in today’s Gospel. We hear the words of the Beatitudes. Jesus tells us that blessed are poor, the weak, the hungry, and the persecuted…and woe to those who enjoy popularity, who are full, and who laugh. Pope Gelasius in his words about Valentine is expressing the same concept as the Beatitudes. Essentially earthly designations, success, and praise means nothing, but what matters is our standing with God. What matters is those private acts, those expressions poverty, weakness, and hunger. Jesus’ expression of love on the cross was perhaps the epitome of being poor, weak, hungry, and persecuted. The crucifixion then is the greatest proof of this definition of love.

We are judged, like Valentine, on those “acts that are known only by God.” A true act of love requires no reward. They require no praise. The harsh words of the Prophet Jeremiah in the First Reading ring so true, “Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh”. Our strength cannot be drawn from the human experience, but rather from our experience of Christ and His love, and we see that love expressed in our relationships with one another. In the second reading, Saint Paul tells us that things are different now. Christ has been raised from the dead, and by virtue of His Resurrection the definition of love has changed. Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” How did He love us? He died for us. So there is our answer, we must die. We must die to self, so that we can live for others. That is the perfect expression of love. And 99 percent of the time, we can die to self by virtue of those acts that are, as Pope Gelasius said, “known only to God.”