This year, Valentine’s Day happens to coincide with Ash Wednesday and beginning of the penitential season of Lent. For most Catholics, this meant transferring the more festive celebration of the patron saint of “love” to yesterday or another day. It doesn’t seem very fun to celebrate Valentine’s Day with fasting and ashes. But there is a way in which I think today’s confluence of feasts is still cause for reflection.
Valentine’s Day is typically a day on which many people will make extra effort to say those three little words to someone special, “I love you.” Yet, as we begin the season of Lent, I think it’s even more important to remember three other little words that are necessary for any healthy relationship, “I am sorry.” In fact, if you really want to say “I love you” and mean it, then you have to spend maybe many more times saying “I am sorry.”
Today, we recognize that God has said the biggest “I love you” he possible could. He came in person and died for us so that we could be with him forever. Sadly, we don’t tell God we love him enough and we often turn away. So, as we celebrate a day named after a martyr who gave his life for love of Christ, we remember to say “I love you” to God, and that means we need to start by saying “I am sorry.” Happy Ash Valentine’s Day.