Love

“Above all, hold unfailing your love for one another.” It’s Valentine’s Day and the table is laden with gifts: candy, cards, mugs, gift boxes, home-made pictures, bookmarks, and other mementos of the day of “love.” This unfailing tradition of including all on this day typically reserved only for romantic love elevates the occasion. One single young lady remarked, “Thanks for this day. I never enjoyed it before because I didn’t have a boyfriend.” Indeed, isn’t this how Christ loved us-without regard to our “dating status?” Tradition holds that St. Valentine protested the Roman edict against marriages by secretly performing weddings, ultimately paying with his life. In the spirit of this saint, we extend the gifts of love to all in the family which God has given us. Thoughtfulness and encouragement are always needful, perhaps especially on this day when so many feel left out in the romance category. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:1-2)