It’s a rather wonderful clashing of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day this week. I might wish otherwise, but I suspect that the sales of roses and chocolates will outweigh those of ash… indeed, I fear that it will be a one-sided contest. But I am not downhearted for this unusual event (1945, 2018, 2024 and soon 2029) brings with it some helpful resonance as well as a distinct difference.
The resonance is, of course, that they both celebrate love. St Valentine, who gives the day its name, was a priest, possibly a bishop, martyred at Rome traditionally on this day. While much is lost in speculation, what we celebrate today is possibly rooted in a pagan festival of the same date. Since then, the day has become associated with lovers and the sending of cards. For many it’s a lovely tradition celebrating commitment. Others find it hard – in contemporary understanding and advertising, Valentine’s Day promotes only one insight into the nature of love, one that can easily be exclusive. It is therefore good to go back to Valentine the martyr, a man who gave his life for faith and for the love of God. He counted that faith and love so precious that he gave up his life for an eternal crown. This is the distinct difference and it’s one that we see set before us in the ash of Ash Wednesday.
That ash, traditionally made by the burning of the palm crosses of the previous year, is a reminder of our sin. It’s a reminder of our failure to live our lives in the way we are called to live as disciples of Jesus Christ; our failure to truly love God and our neighbour as we love ourselves; our failure to work ceaselessly for the coming of the Kingdom of justice, mercy and peace.
Yet that ash is traced in the sign of the cross on the foreheads of those who worship this day. The ash is the sign of the triumph of love in Jesus Christ over darkness and death that leads to resurrection and to new life. The ash made in the sign of the cross, is a symbol of the power of the love of God in Jesus Christ that gives hope of renewal, restoration and life for all, in all fullness. It is the extraordinary thing that this love, though hard won, is overwhelmingly generous and gracious. It is not exclusive, but freely given and for all.
That won’t and shouldn’t stop those who celebrate Valentine’s Day. Those who will be in church being ashed should certainly not look down on others: That would be a strange way indeed to follow the one who walked with sinners. After, some may also send Valentine’s themselves. These two different perspectives on love, taken together, help reveal more about love’s true nature.
It is this that Lent invites us to discover again. Like a Valentine’s card, the ash acts as an invitation to a renewed walk with God, to a rediscovery of God’s purpose for us, a deepened relationship, that we may see the beauty of the cross and the life of the resurrection offered for all.
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Many thanks for such a thoughtful and helpful reflection.
Strange that it didn’t happen for seventy years, then three times in a decade !
All best as ever
Jonathan M-J