What a beautiful and rare gift it is to have Valentine’s Day on Ash Wednesday this year. Today, we have the opportunity to remember the true meaning of love.
Sacrifice and self denial.
Though your day may not be filled with sweets, love is abundant.
As you attend Ash Wednesday mass with friends you’ve seen yesterday, last week, or maybe those you haven’t seen since Christmas, look around you. We all have ashes on our foreheads. We are one unified church and each person is precious and loved beyond words by Christ.
In a day where it’s easy to compare gifts received to others or grumble about whatever stage of singleness/dating you may be in, this Valentine’s Day we all will have one thing in common. We will wear ashes on our foreheads.
May we deny ourselves with joy, and remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
As you fast today, I pray you think of it as a love letter to the Lord. May your self denial and sacrifice be filled with joy knowing Christ’s love for us and our love for Him matter far more than a heart shaped candy ever could.
Jesus loves you, and I pray on this day of both love and sacrifice, you love Him in return.
All my love and prayers,
Monica +JMJ+
