Loading...Dear Friends in Christ,
Happy Valentine's Day!! What a wonderful day Valentine's Day is. All across this country, cards will be exchanged between loved ones. Some will even give candy and/or flowers to that special someone. Debbie and I will exchange cards, and I will get her some flowers, but we will spend evenings of Valentine's Day, the evening before, and the evening after at The Villa. It is the biggest night of the year for Allen's restaurant. People are making reservations now for the delicious Valentine's Day specials. Debbie makes her wonderful desserts, and I try to stay out of the way. Helping out at The Villa is an expression of love between Debbie, Allen, and me.
Love is what it's all about. Nothing is more important. More songs have been written about love than any other subject. "Endless Love", "Love Me Tender", "Love Makes the World Go Round", "Can't Help Falling in Love", "I Can't Stop Loving You", "I Will Always Love You", just to name a few, and these are just the songs that have love in the title. Debbie's and my song is "We've Only Just Begun."
The word Love is mentioned in the Bible more than any other subject. Here are some samples: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." "Love your enemies, do good to them. Love must be sincere." "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God." "Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." "We love because He first loved us." "Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
A couple of my favorite verses about love are "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love," and "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." Almost everyone's favorite Bible verse about love are the words of St. Paul, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away...And now these three remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
And the greatest of these is love. What a wonderful world it would be if we loved more, and judged less. Loving others is hard. It is the most diifficult thing we will ever try to do. But try we must. The one we think we dislike the most (I hate the word hate), is the one we must strive to love the most. In striving to be Christ-like, Christian, we have to love like Christ, unconditionally. In all our dealings with one another, let's always remember, God is Love. Happy Valentine's Day!
In Christ's Love,
Father Russ
