From Above

February 14, 2012

Memorial of Sts. Cyril and Methodius

By Beth DeCristofaro

No one experiencing temptation should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. …all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, (James 1:13,17)

Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?" They answered him, "Twelve." "When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?" They answered him, "Seven." He said to them, "Do you still not understand?" (Mark 8:17-21)

Piety

O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

Study

Today we celebrate “Love”, complete with red and pink flowers, sunny yellow roses, candy and sugary sentiments on glittering greeting cards. Of course we Catholics have the opportunity to teach children about loving generosity in the story of St. Valentine. This remembrance day of love has other memorials attached to it however, and we see a day rooted in love which took expression in the political and social realm of the day.

Valentine gave dowry money to a poor girl in an era when lack of a dowry meant no marriage and thus no place in society at all. According to the website www.catholic.org, brothers Constantine and Methodius were dedicated to the ideal of expression in a people's native language, transcribing the Bible, offering sacraments and presiding over liturgy in the Slavonic language. This was a turbulent time when Greek or Latin were the only valued languages and thus common people were controlled because of their lack of understanding.

Jesus’ words to the apostles might have been influential to these brothers and certainly to St. Valentine. Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? The Word is for all. God came in Jesus and God comes today to the poor, the oppressed, to the faithful and to sinners who are welcomed to “see” and “hear”. Are we dazzled or let down by the sequins of the day? Are we hardened by the acrimonious messages of political leaders around the world? Can we see and hear God’s love within and round about us?

Action

Today on St. Valentine’s and Sts. Cyril and Methodius’ day, offer some very free love. That is, offer a loving gesture anonymously without thought of recompense. And, importantly, offer in whether the individual deserves your love or not.