Does anyone remember taking a shoe box and decorating it to take to school as a valentine box? We would have the boxes lined up on the windowsill and you could drop a card in the box of the people you wanted to remember on Valentine’s Day. The cards were rather cheap and were punched out of a sheet. None were very fancy and sometimes we would glue valentine hearts on those cards we gave to someone special.
Saint Valentine was a third-century clergyman who ministered to persecuted Christians. In the year 496, the church initiated the feast of Saint Valentine to commemorate the love and compassion that he expressed to others. Today, we have romanticized the occasion with flowers, chocolates and greeting cards to those that we love.
Perhaps this year it would be more appropriate for the community of faith to express our love more universally. In keeping with the work of the saint we commemorate, let us remember the forgotten ones, the people that society has forgotten. Think how you would share love with the lonely, the homeless, the incarcerated, and those that have been the target of prejudice.
May cupid’s arrow strike your heart to pour out your love to others!
~ Rev. Dr. Fred Leasure, Parish Associate