THE MARK OF TRUE LOVE

Happy Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday. I’m wondering how many people gave up chocolate this year? It would make it a bit more challenging for the guys that are last minute valentine gifts buyers.

You have to admit there is an interesting twist to this year’s combination of two significant days. I was talking about this with some friends in Brevard County after a Mass and a young lady, still somewhat of a newlywed, in a very somber tone said, “Yeah, Valentine’s Day on Ash Wednesday.” When I asked what was the problem, she just looked at me, with that look of, are you serious? I embarked on an explanation of how the ashes we will receive on that day are the mark of true love!

In the beginning God, who is Love, formed man out of the clay of the ground. (Gn 2:7) God realized, “It is not good for the man to be alone and so he kept creating until at last he formed from one of Adams ribs the woman.” (Gn 2:18-25) The is an intimate love relationship between God and man; the man and the woman; and between God, man, woman, & creation.

Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.

My point to the young lady, we may be formed from dust, clay, dirt, but God loves this piece of dirt. He loves us so much that even when man fell, when man turned to worshiping other gods, when we continue to fall short of the holiness He calls us to… “For our sake he made [Jesus, his only begotten Son] to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:20-21) Now that is true love, love in action, love as a pure gift.

Repent and believe in the Gospel. The Good News, the greatest love story ever!

We will be marked today. Marked with a reminder of how much we are loved by our God and creator. It is a mark that reminds us of where we come from and who it is we belong. This mark becomes a visible sign, along with all the other Christian symbols we adorn ourselves with, that “we are ambassadors for Christ as if God was appealing through us.” (2 Cor 5:20) Calling to a world distracted by so many false gods.

It is not enough to wear the symbols. Our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and alms giving call us to let the world know we are Christians by our love. How we love our family, our parish life, our community. How we love the strong and the weak; the filled and the hungry; those in the mansion and those who are homeless. How we love enough to offer ourselves for the greater good of others and the glory of our true lover, sanctifier, and savior Jesus.

THE MUD PIE THEORY

When her kids were little, my friend was petrified at the thought of sending them outside. She thought, just beyond her threshold of her home were throngs of invisible germs just waiting to pounce on them without mercy or hesitation.   Inside her home, she felt some measure of control over her children's exposure to bacteria.  By keeping them clean, she thought, she could keep them safe, keep them healthy, or was she doing more harm than good?

More and more, however, doctors identify getting dirty during childhood as a crucial step in the development of a healthy immune system and the tamping down of future allergies.  Playing outdoors — and yes, getting dirty — is not just crucial for developing muscles and balance or learning to withstand scrapes and bruises, it's also an ideal way to be exposed to many different kinds of helpful bacteria.  Having a wide variety of bacteria living in and on the body creates a microbial ecosystem that makes it harder for a single strain to flourish and cause illness.

Jesus’ dispute with the Pharisees because of the disciples’ eating with unwashed hands in yesterday’s reading moves to a further explanation for the crowds.   While the first controversy with the Pharisees was about how a person eats, the next phase deals with what goes into a person and what comes out.

Jesus explains that only “the things that come out from within” (Mk 7:15) can defile a person.   It is from the heart—not the stomach—that evil comes.  Jesus tells us to look at what comes out of a person—do we see the fruits of love, goodness, faithfulness, and honesty?  Today, we can ask ourselves: What do we look for in those we meet?  Does someone well dressed in expensive clothes and with the latest smartphone and iPad attract us?   Or is it the person who is intent on service, one who may be dressed in poor clothes but who has kind eyes, helpful hands, and honest language?

The challenge here is there are many among us who are wearing the costumes of success.   Nice clothes, the latest gadgets, big house and car, yet these externals are often a cover to hide the authentically human mud pies.   We are flawed, imperfect persons. God sees our often-dirty filled reality and loves us still, unconditionally.

Often when I talk with teens I’ll tell them we are living billboard, what are you selling?  In this Eucharist, Jesus lays it all out, no air about him, he comes to us in the humble form of bread and wine. Are we impressed?