Actualize Love

Happy Valentine’s Day! Although I am not quite sure what I mean when I say that!

Valentine’s Day as a holiday is steeped in mystery and legend.  From what I can discern, there actually was a person named Valentine (there may have actually been a few of them…) who was martyred related to his Christian faith by the Romans in the 3^rd century CE.  A bunch of stories emerged about what happened to this person, but no one seems able to settle on one story. 

One version is that Valentine was arrested for his beliefs (we tend to forget this with most of the saints) and was also possibly jailed.  While arrested Valentine healed the eyes of a young girl and was executed for doing this because it went against the power of the Roman emperor of the time.  So while we get all romantic on this holiday, we might actually honor it by performing acts of healing that go against empire!

And if you aren’t sure what these could be, consider the spiritual and corporal works of mercy as starters.[1]  On Valentine’s Day we also want to acknowledge and celebrate the many people who are not partnered and are living full and creative lives in the midst of a culture that stresses ‘pairs’.

The Catholic Church removed “St. Valentine” from the canon of saints in 1969, BUT it seems that Valentine’s Day speaks to something much deeper in us.

bell hooks in her amazing book All About Love: New Visions says that , “Everywhere we learn that love is important, and yet we are bombarded by its failure. In the realm of the political, among the religious, in our families, and in our romantic lives, we see little indication that love informs decisions, strengthens our understanding of community, or keeps us together. This bleak picture in no way alters the nature of our longing. We still hope that love will prevail. We still believe in love’s promise.”

She goes on to say that, “Love as an active force that should lead us into greater communion with the world…Loving practice is not aimed at simply giving an individual greater life satisfaction; it is extolled as the primary way we end domination and oppression…Love is an action, a participatory emotion. Whether we are engaged in a process of self-love or of loving others we must move beyond the realm of feeling to actualize love. This is why it is useful to see love as a practice.”

For today, in whatever forms we decide upon, let us ‘actualize love” so that this world is transformed into the community that God desired.

[1] Corporal include: To feed the hungry, To give water to the thirsty, To clothe the naked, To shelter the homeless, To visit the sick, To visit the imprisoned, or ransom the captive, To bury the dead.  Spiritual include: To instruct the ignorant, To counsel the doubtful, to admonish the sinners, To bear patiently those who wrong us, To forgive offenses, To comfort the afflicted, To pray for the living and the dead