For God so loved the World He gave his only begotten Son for our Sins

“For God so loved the World He gave his only begotten Son for our Sins.”  John 3:16

Someone mentioned lately how difficult it would be to reconcile Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. After all, one is a solemn occasion of abstinence and ashes and the other is a festive celebration of hearts, flowers and candy. Actually, it’s very easy to reconcile these two events if we remember the words from the Gospel of John, Chapter 3: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And again in John’s Gospel, Chapter 15: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” What does this kind of love look like? St. Augustine tells us how to love: "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."

We have the next 40 days and beyond to experience this kind of love and to share it with others.